The Light Within The Flame
by AmesChan
Summary: 18 year old Lucy Heartfilia has been having strange dreams of a boy with pink hair and his blue cat. She also dreams of magic. Are these dreams memories of something from her past or are they strange signs from something that will happen in her future? The only way to know will be to follow her journey as she takes a leap of faith and follows her gut instinct. AU
1. Chapter 1

***I DO NOT own Fairy Tail or the characters :) ******

The Light within the Flames

~~~~~~ Chapter 1 ~~~~~~~

It was quiet within the manor home. It was dark outside, the stars hiding behind a cloudy sky. All of the servants where asleep knowing that they would be awake soon to see to their chores. Everything appeared to be peaceful, except for the 18-year-old girl lying asleep in her bed. To those looking from the outside she appeared restless. Lucy Heartfilia, was tossing and turning in her sleep. Which was strange because normally she slept like a log. Her parents, Jude and Layla Heartfilia, often jokingly stated that she could sleep through a meteor shower that's how deep of a sleeper she is.

"Wait…up," Lucy mumbled incoherently in her sleep.

***********Dream Sequence************

"Come on Lucy! Hurry up so we can get started on our adventure!" said the mysterious person with a head full of spiky pink hair.

"Aye Sir!" said the Cat.

"Come on Guys! You know it takes me time to figure out what to wear!" said Lucy as she was standing in front of her mirror, a guy that looked like a crab with scissors standing behind her fixing her hair.

"Sheesh Lucy! Whatya getting all dressed up for when you know it's just gonna get all dirty when we go play!" said the boy with pink hair.

"heheh we should leave her cuz she has that strange look on her face like she cant decide what she wants to wear…." Said the blue cat as he flew on white wings to wear the boy was standing.

The boy sigh, "You're right buddy shes gonna take forever lets go!" as he heading for the door to her room.

"Aye Sir!" said the cat excitedly as he flew beside the boy. Lucy looked over to them and shook her head full of blonde hair. "Hey! Don't leave! I'm coming, I'm coming" exclaimed Lucy as she yelled after the pair who had just left.

"Wait up N…."

***************End of Sequence**************

Lucy awoke with a start. She was drenched in sweat and trying to get her eyes adjusted to the darkness in her bedroom. This was the third night in a row that she kept having similar dreams. She looked up at her ceiling as she tried desperately to remember the dreams. Every time she woke up her dream would slip right through her fingers almost like smoke. Lucy remembers seeing herself as a little girl, in a room that was different than the one she currently lived in. She remembers dreaming about a young boy with pink hair and wearing a white scarf around his neck. She also remembers this boy having a goofy smile on his face and constantly coming into her room uninvited. As Lucy keeps trying to remember the dream she recalls that the little boy having a small cat with him. The cat had the most adorable big eyes and had blue fur. His underbelly was white and he had white wings that he would use when he was tired of walking…which seemed like it happened all the time actually. The cat and the little boy were very close and she seemed like she was close to them in the dream.

Lucy sat up in bed as she kept thinking, trying to keep the dream alive in her memory before it slipped away. What did this mean? Who is this little boy and his cat? It isn't like it was strange that the cat was talking because even though she lived in a country where only certain people could use magic she was used to seeing weird animals who could talk.

Lucy took a deep breath and tried to concentrate, "Okay girl, what the hell is going on with you lately. Who is this boy you keep thinking of" she said to herself out loud if only to break the silence in her room. Lucy turned around and looked out her window to notice that the sun was going up.

"Oh well, I guess there is no point in trying to go back to sleep, its not like I can remember anything else anyway" said Lucy seemingly frustrated as she prepared to get out of bed having already forgotten the details of the dream.

"This is so frustrating!" Lucy yelled as she grabbed her head and shook her head as if to clear away the cobwebs in her brain.

"Why can't I remember anything? and why do I keep dreaming the same things lately? This has been happening to me ever since I turned 18" Lucy said to herself, "That is it, I am going to get to the bottom of this one way or another. I need to know if I am going crazy of if this is some kind of past memory."

Lucy sighed and got up from her bed. Today will be the day she starts looking for answers. Lucy was not normally one for sensing things as she did not possess any magical abilities but she knew something was going on. Lucy had the strongest feeling that this was more than just a dream and she was determined to find out what it is….


	2. Chapter 2

"I DO NOT own Fairy Tail or the characters" ^.^

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 2 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With that determination in mind Lucy got out of bed and started walking towards the bathroom. She never thought anything strange would happen to her. I mean sure she was surrounded by people who were animals and could talk and there were even some people who had the ability to use magic; but that was not something that ran in her family. Lucy lived in a town called Edolas. In this time magical abilities were something that you bought not something you were born with. If you wanted the ability to use fire, you needed to buy a lacrima stone and a blade to equip that ability. The same thing applied to other abilities.

Lucy was no stranger to people having money, her father, Jude Heartfilia, was an extremely successful business owner. Jude owned half of the magical shops and businesses in town. It was not for a lack of money that Lucy did not have any magical weapons of her own. It was just that whenever she had attempted to purchase a weapon or even a lacrima it would not work. It did not matter how much effort she put into the thing it just would not produce any magical spark.

"It's like I'm cursed", Lucy muttered aloud to herself as she brushed her blond hair out in front of the mirror. "Every single time I try to use one of the lacrima's the thing breaks or explodes or the weapon just stops working… and God help me if my father were to ever catch me using magic or attempting to use it anyway…".

Thinking about her father brought back other kinds of memories. Being the only daughter of a successful business owner was no small thing. She was expected to act the proper lady, which to others may not be a bad thing but to Lucy she just could not stand it, she was expected to always conduct herself accordingly and the worst part of all was that she was expected to marry some other successful business owner so HE could inherit the company. Something that drove Lucy crazy as if she was not smart enough to do things on her own.

Needless to say Lucy did not have a good relationship with her father, not that she didn't wish things were different. But, he never had time to spend with her or see what it was that she wanted out of life. It seemed like she was more of a chore than someone who he truly loved. Not that Lucy gave a shit, she thought to herself while she looked in the mirror, but still it may be nice to have someone love her for herself instead of because of who she is "meant to be".

Lucy sighed deeply, "thinking about this is making me miss mom", she whispered to herself while holding onto the bathroom sink. Lucy put her head down as she fought back tears thinking about her mother. She knows Layla would have helped her figure out what these strange dreams meant. She knew without a doubt that her mother would have helped her and even encouraged her to figure out the truth. Her mom was just like that, she thought to herself, her mom was filled with energy and life and loved a good story. That was most likely where Lucy got her sense of adventure and need to explore because it certainly was not from her father. Thinking about her mom reminded her of when she got sick. Even though her mother had an energetic spirit she was actually a very frail person and would often get sick, for as long as Lucy could remember. Lucy always knew that something could happen to her mother and it was not until Lucy was out on a hunt for a magical item that she got the news that her mother had passed. She remembers feeling s guilty because she was not home when her mother needed her the most. Lucy sighed but knew that her mother was not upset with her; after all she remembers her mother encouraging her to leave the house that day and try to find this lacrima that Lucy finally would be able to use. Lucy does not remember much about her mother's death as her memory is getting pretty hazy lately. She just remembers coming home and her father telling her that her mother had passed.

"Which is weird because I can't even remember the details, it's like the harder I try the fuzzier they become. Maybe I am just going crazy and my brain is fried," Lucy said to herself as she finished the final touches on her face.

"There all done, even if my dad tries to not see me today I will find him and ask the questions that I need to ask," said Lucy with resolve because she was not going to give up.

"Hmm… Now just to figure out what to wear" Lucy thought out loud tapping her finger against her chin.

"How about this outfit, princess?"

"Woah!" exclaimed Lucy as she stopped herself from screaming out loud. "Virgo! You scared me nearly half to death" Lucy yelled at Virgo as she clutched her chest. "Jeez! Do you ever use a door, it's like you pop out of nowhere!" Lucy looked at Virgo who was holding up two different outfits for Lucy to choose from.

"Is it time for punishment, princess?" asked Virgo with a smirk on her face as she looked over at Lucy who was still shaking slighty.

"NO! I swear you know I am never going to punish you but you still keep asking me," replied Lucy with a grin on her face. No matter that Virgo nearly scared the crap out of her, she still loved having the maid around even if she could be a little crazy sometimes. Virgo has been with her for as long as she can remember. As a matter of fact, all of the servants in her home where basically the only friends she had. Well that and her books because her father did not let her leave the house much, especially after the death of her mother.

"Well I keep hoping one day you will change your mind," replied Virgo distracting Lucy from her thoughts, "that will be the best day in my life when that happens" said Virgo smiling from ear to ear as if envisioning being punished by Lucy.

"Don't hold your breath" muttered Lucy as she left the bathroom with Virgo trailing behind her.

"Okay I think I will decide on the dress you are holding on your left, I need to have an audience with dad and I do not want him saying anything about the typical outfit I like to wear" said Lucy to Virgo as she thought about not being able to wear her blue skirt with her white sleeveless top and black boots. Lucy sighed as she started changing into the pink dress that her father had made for her. It was not that she did not like the dress she loved the color pink and she felt regal when she wore it, but the other outfit suited her style more.

"You need to get an audience with Mr. Heartfilia?" questioned Virgo as she handed her the outfit so Lucy could change. "Is it about the dreams you have been having?" questioned Virgo intently eyeing Lucy.

"Yea I need to talk to him about them, not that I think he will give me a straight answer, but Virgo it has been three days now. I have not ever had the same kind of dream for that long and you know that," she exclaimed. Lucy walked over to stand in front of the mirror to allow Virgo to button the back of the dress. "My father cannot keep giving me the run around, I need to know what is going on and I won't let him give me some crap story because I KNOW myself and this is not normal for me".

"You are right princess, you should get to the bottom of this, I do not like seeing you tormented, it makes me want to get punished" said Virgo finishing the final touches on her dress.

"Anything I say makes you want punishment," Lucy replied laughing because it really did not matter what she said Virgo would be Virgo.

"Alright! Let's head over to dad's room because I am not going another night without asking dad who is this cute pink haired boy and his cat in my dreams" Lucy replied as she pumped her fist in the air. Virgo smiled at her because if it was one thing she knew about her princess was that she was stubborn and would not back down from a challenge.

 _A/N I just wanted to say a quick thank you to anyone that has viewed, followed or click on favorite for this story! It is my first fan fiction so it means a lot! I LOVE Fairy Tail so I am excited to be writing again. I really do not know how many chapters it will be I am just kind of going with the flow that is in my head ^.^ I will try to update two or three times a week since we are getting a hurricane soon I will most likely have plenty of time to write over the weekend and I already started on chapter three!_ _I hope you guys enjoy it! Any comments or reviews would be super appreciated I always love to see what other people think! Thanks again!_


	3. Chapter 3

"I DO NOT own Fairy Tail or THE characters" ^.^

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While Lucy was getting to the bottom of her mysterious pink haired boy and his blue cat somewhere in another land called the Kingdom of Fiore in a town called Magnolia resides several wizards in a guild.

The name of this guild was called Fairy Tail. Now this was not your ordinary guild. This was a guild filled with amazingly strong wizards, whose bonds of friendship and love surpassed no other. In fact, it is those very bonds that can cut across time and make the impossible possible.

"Ugh," sighed Natsu as he let his head plop down onto the bar.

"What's wrong Natsu?" questioned Mirajane while serving him a plate of food. "You don't really look so good." Mira said worriedly. Mirajane was one of the caretakers of Fairy Tail. She helped around the guild hall, kept track of the jobs that the wizards went on, cooked and was the go to person when you were brand new to the guild. She also happened to be an S-class wizard and nobody, I mean NOBODY messed with Mira when she was serious.

"Geehee, he looks like some kind of love sick dog…pretty pathetic if you asked me," snickered Gajeel looking past where he was sitting with Levy to remark on Natsu's demeanor.

"Eh…." responded Natsu talking around the food that he had put in his mouth. "WHAT DID YOU SAY YOU IRON EATING FREAK!? COME SAY THAT TO MY FACE!" screamed Natsu itching to pound someone's face in and let out all the pent up frustration he was feeling.

Natsu stood up from his chair and walked over to Gajeel just to show him exactly how serious he was feeling right now.

"Oi! Natsu, what the hell is going on with you?" replied Gray from across the bar where he was sitting next to Juvia and Happy.

"Gray-sama looks so beautiful when he gets all riled up." Juvia said looking dreamily at Gray with hearts in her eyes, envisioning a future with tiny little Gruvia babies with stunning blue-black eyes.

"She's in looooove…" snickered Happy looking at the water mage who was staring dreamily at Gray. "Except he looks to be more interested in Natsu than in you, Juvia." Happy said around his fish, happily munching on the deliciousness that he was consuming.

"WHAT?!" yelled Juvia. "A love rival!" she said threateningly looking as if she was going to hit Natsu with some magic right then and there.

"There, there Juvia-san Happy was only joking." stated Wendy as she walked over to where Juvia was, smiling at the water mage reassuringly.

"Yes Juvia, we all know that Gray barely pays attention to you so you have nothing to worry about." stated Charle flying over to where Happy was eating his fish.

"Charle! That was not very nice!" said Wendy as Juvia ran over to where Gray was standing apparently not even listening to what Charle said anyway.

"Gosh, you guys are so loud I am trying to read here and all the noise is messing with my focus." mumbled Levy looking up from the book that she was so engrossed in.

"Yup looks like there is going to be a fight all right." commented Lily casually knowing that pretty soon the magical sparks where going to fly between Gajeel, Natsu and Gray.

"YOU WANT SOME OF ME TOO?! YOU SQUINTY EYED PERVERT!" yelled Natsu and you could tell that he was definitely in the mood for a fight today and he was determined to get it.

"WHO YOU CALLING A SQUINTY EYED PERVERT YOU SLANTY EYED FIRE FREAK!" yelled Gray menacingly as he went to stand next to Natsu and Gajeel in preparation for the fight.

"Says the one with no pants on." Levy replies quietly while shaking her head slightly.

"My lovely Gray-sama is so dreamy!" Juvia almost turned into a puddle of water from the excitement of seeing him without his pants on.

Before anyone coulfd say anything the two Dragon Slayers and Ice Devil slayer started slugging it out. All you really see is a ball of arms and legs as Natsu's fist connects with Gajeels jaw. Then you see Gray's knee connect with Natsu's stomach and Gajeels leg smashing into Grays side.

"Master, are you going to stop them from wrecking the guild again?" questioned Mirajane who was pretty used to these fights so she really didn't mind, but one can always hope that the guild could be saved from being wrecked.

"They are young and have high spirits! Let them enjoy themselves!" replied the Master of the guild as he chugged down another drink. "Where are Elfman, Lisanna and Cana by the way?" questioned Makarov over the noise of the three fighting idiots.

"Oh, they actually went on a job together, so I don't expect them back for at least another week." Mirajane stated calmly as she went to fix the Master another drink.

"Oh! I see" he replied happily.

"ALRIGHT THAT'S IT! IM ALL FIRED UP NOW!" shouted Natsu over the fray of elbows and fists. "FIRE DRAGON…." Natsu started as he got himself ready to unleash his magic.

"OH YEAH! IRON DRAGON…." Gajeel yelled getting himself ready for what appeared to be an even better fight.

"ICE MAKE…" yelled Gray at the same time as the other two. Levy looked over the top of the book as she heard three screams one after the other.

Not surprisingly the cause of those three screams were Natsu, Gray and Gajeel. "Ah Erza! You're back! Welcome home!" stated Mirajane as she saw the Scarlet haired wizard wiping her hands after knocking the crap out of the three boys.

"I'm home everyone" she replied smiling at the she-devil. "I expect better from you three! Fighting right here in the middle of where I am walking." Erza glared at the boys daring them to say something in response.

"Those three always listen to Erza-san." said Wendy while smiling and looking over at the three who were huddled in a corner with stars in their eyes.

"Aye Sir!" replied Happy "Erza is scary!"

"Happy, is something wrong with Natsu-san he does not seem to be himself lately?" questioned Wendy who has noticed that the normally hyper active Natsu looked to be lost in thought lately more than he normally ever is.

"Hmm something wrong with Natsu?" Happy said thinking about the question. "Now that you mention it he has been acting strange at home. There are times when he stares into the fire intently and he has been having strange dreams. Which is strange for Natsu. He is normally so tired because of his crazy stunts that he just passes out."

"Hmm…. that does not sound like him." said Wendy worriedly.

"Oi! Happy were leaving! I can't even eat my food in peace here. Let's go!" yelled Natsu from across the room. He didn't even get a chance to finish his fight and wipe the floor with those bastards so instead he wanted to go get some air.

"Aye Sir!" Happy replied flying over to where Natsu was.

"Natsu…" Happy questioned worriedly as they walked back over to their house. "Is everything okay, you do seem to be acting strange"

Natsu stopped dead in his tracks and stared intently at the house in front of them. It was like he didn't even hear what Happy said. The home in front of them was a townhouse by the riverbank and something about this place seemed familiar to him. He just could not place his finger on it.

"Natsu! Are you even listening to me?" asked Happy annoyed that his best friend was ignoring him.

"Happy do feel something when you look at this place?" Natsu asked ignoring him again.

"Do I feel something? Like what?" questioned Happy confused as to what Natsu was talking about.

"I feel as if I have been inside here before with someone else, someone important to me…" Natsu said in almost a whisper as he stared at the window facing the bay.

"Let's go inside!" Natsu said as he jumped up to the window.

"Natsu! Wait up!" Happy said as he flew up to where Natsu was standing.

Natsu stepped into the room and immediately felt as if he had been here before. That was what was bothering him. He felt as if he was forgetting something important. No, not something, someone. He felt as if there was a piece of him missing, and that feeling had been getting stronger every day. If there was anything that Natsu hated, it was not knowing something or feeling like he forgot someone.

"I JUST KNOW that I am missing something! Ugh" he told Happy in frustration as he grabbed his hair and sat down on the floor.

"Natsu maybe you are just tired?" Happy replied trying to convince him that it was just because he hadn't been sleeping well that made him feel off.

"No Happy it isn't that! I feel that I am forgetting someone important. It's right there and I just can't see it!" Natsu said looking across the room.

"We are not leaving this room until I figure out what the hell it is!" Natsu said with determination. He knew he wasn't going crazy and he had a feeling that this was where he needed to be in order to get to the bottom of what was going on. He would sleep in this room if he had to. He knew his instincts were never wrong and tonight he would get the answers he was looking for.

As darkness fell over Magnolia, people were slowly falling asleep. Happy was already curled up by the fire that Natsu had built in a corner on top of bricks in the room and Natsu was slowly falling in and out of sleep.

As sleep finally overcame Natsu the last coherent thought that he had was of a girl with blonde hair and an amazing smile.

All you could hear in the silence of the night was the one word Natsu muttered, "Lu…cy…."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

 _A/N Once again Thank you guys so much for any reviews, views, follows and favorites! It means a lot to me even if one person is reading my story! I was going to wait until Saturday to post but since I live in Florida and there is currently a hurricane happening I didnt want to chance not being able to post (hahaha writer's problems ^.^). Here is chapter three a little early! Finally some Fairy Tail guild members for you guys and I made it a little longer too since Im not sure if I will be able to post this weekend. Hopefully our power does not get shut off at all or at least not for too long *crosses fingers* As always leave me a review if you like what you are reading ^.^ It is greatly appreciated! Until next time 3_


	4. Chapter 4

*I DO NOT own Fairy Tail or its amazing characters*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 4 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lucy breathed in deeply as she prepared to knock on her father's office suite door.

"Miss Lucy?" a familiar face called out from behind her before she even had the chance to knock on the door.

"Oh, hello Capricorn" she smiled as she turned around the face him. "I realize that my father may be busy today with meetings but I desperately need to speak with him." Her eyes gazing at Capricorn's no nonsense but kind face.

Capricorn went to open the door to the office, "I believe he just finished his business meeting with the board so I will let him know of your arrival, come inside the office Miss Lucy" Capricorn waved her inside stepping away from the large mahogany doors.

"Okay, thank you." she replied walking over to sit on one of the plush couches that decorated her father's waiting room. She didn't understand why she was so nervous. I mean yes,, she did not have the best relationship with her father and he was pretty intimidating but it wasn't like she didn't have a fire of her own. "Come on girl." she told herself while taking another deep breath, filling up her lungs with air before exhaling slowly. "You can do this…" smiling to herself, she could feel the nerves leaving and her confidence building up again.

She was so caught up in her thoughts she didn't even notice Capricorn had arrived. "Miss Lucy, your father will see you now." he bowed gracefully as he motioned for Lucy to enter her father's private study.

"Thank you so much." Lucy replied, standing up to enter into his room.

Her father is a tall man with a very domineering personality. His blonde hair is meticulously cut in the military buzz style and he is currently sporting a thin mustache. She notices the expression he gives as she walks into the room is one of curiosity. She assumes it is because she does not normally ask for an audience like this. Why bother? She thought to herself, it usually did not do her any good.

"Good morning Father" Lucy replied with a slight curtsy. "I wanted to speak to you about something that has been happening to me lately." curling her fingers in her hair. She realized that she was acting nervously and immediately clasped her hands in front of her body.

"Good Morning Lucy, come on in and sit down." Her father motioned for her to sit across from him. "You do seem rather nervous. I hope you are doing well." he replied as he observed her carefully.

"Yes, father. I am well…in a manner of speaking." she started figuring it was best to just get the question over with. "I actually wanted to speak to you about something that has been happening to me lately, ever since I turned 18 I have been having these strange dreams…"

"Strange dreams? What exactly do you mean Lucy?" looking at her as if she was some strange oddity who so happened to be related to him.

Lucy charged on ahead, "I have been having the same dreams for the past four nights now and they keep involving the same people. I keep dreaming about a different place and in this place people can use magic freely. Not only that, but I actually see myself in these dreams." The more she mentioned the dreams to her father, the more she was starting to remember so she took it as a sign that she did the right thing by asking him. However, she noticed the more she talked the paler her father became and he started tapping his fingers against his desk. Which was something he only did when he was starting to get upset. She decided to continue anyway.

"The other interesting thing, father, is that in my dreams I keep seeing the same two people…"

"Oh really?" said her father attempting to appear as if he did not care about what she was saying. It appeared to her that he was trying to act nonchalant to keep her from continuing. "Lucy… this does not sound like any-"

"Please father!" Lucy interrupted him "Let me finish. In this dream I keep seeing the same two people" she said rushing now because she was worried he would stop her again. "I keep seeing a boy with pink hair who is always with me and his talking blue cat. In the dreams we are going on adventures together and we seem to be pretty close. He also has the power to control fire in the dreams! But for the life of me I can't remember his name!" She noticed that her father seemed to be holding his breath so she continued on nervously.

"Father, it feels as if these dreams are not dreams but instead they are mem-"

"STOP!" her father roared standing up quickly from his chair. "I do not want to hear any more of your nonsense! Do you not think I have better things to do than to listen to some silly story of yours?! Forget these dreams! They are just that, dreams!"

"But father!" Lucy stood up and quickly walked over to him "These dreams do not feel like dreams and what in the world are you getting so upset for!" She looked at him and this time she really looked at him. Her father was breathing heavily, his pupils were dilated and he looked oddly scared.

"Father…" she implored, "What is going on? You actually look like you are afraid.."

"ENOUGH!" he jerked walking from around the table clearly furious, "I DO NOT want to hear anything more about this matter. It is a stupid dream probably brought on from one of those fantasies that you like to read so much."

Lucy simply stared at him, feeling the words cut through her like a knife. Maybe she was wrong and he wasn't afraid. Maybe he just could not be bothered to listen to her even for a few minutes. He clearly did not care that she was struggling with whatever was happening to her. Lucy brushed aside the tears that were beginning to form in her eyes.

"If mom were still here she would believe me, she would listen..." she started to say.

"Thankfully, for her sake, she is not here to see what a disappointment you have become to the Heartfilia name." Jude snapped coldly at her. "Instead of filling your head with nothing but poor drivel you should be focusing on finding yourself someone to fill my shoes and carry on our legacy." He lashed out at her from behind closed teeth.

"You are not half the woman that your mother was and I am grateful that she did not have to see what you have become. Now get out. I have work to do." With that final order he turned his back on her.

Lucy stood paralyzed. She could not believe her father had said that to her, it was as if her mind could not process what just happened.

"GET OUT!" growled her father.

Lucy jumped and ran out of the room pulling open the door before rushing past Capricorn.

"Miss Lucy!" Capricorn called trying to stop her.

Lucy ran and kept running until she got to the one place in her entire home where she felt safe. The place that was her mother's most treasured room. Once she got to the library she stopped and crumbled onto the floor. Her father's words slicing open every nerve ending that she possessed in her body. She always imagined that she disappointed her father but never this much and never over something as seemingly small as a dream. Lucy sobbed until she felt her heart would come out of her chest. She was too immersed in her grief to even notice that her dog Plue had appeared next to her.

"Plu, plu?" her dog looked at her worriedly patting her with his little white paws. She sobbed some more and held onto him allowing herself to feel comforted by his presence. Finally, when she felt she could actually think clearly she stood up from the floor and walked over to her favorite chair by the fire.

She sat down with Plue in her arms and simply stared into the brightly burning fireplace. The flames bringing her more comfort than she could imagine. Now that she could think clearly she realized that her father's reaction was too severe for her dreams to simply be nonsense. Contrary to what her father said, she was anything but stupid. She knew now more than ever that he was hiding something from her. Something so big in fact that it caused him to say the most hurtful things he could think of to push her away.

She sighed. She was exhausted from the fight, the running and the explosive crying. She was too tired to think anymore and decided to let herself fall asleep. She felt comforted holding Plue in her lap and she felt safe by the fire. "It's so warm." She thought to herself as she drifted off to sleep. The fire reminded her of someone else who she truly loved and felt safe with. The last word that faded out of her mouth as she stared into the glowing red-orange flames before falling into the darkness of sleep was "Nat…su…"

 _A/N So hurricane Matthew was not as devastating to my area as it was to other areas! As promised here is the next chapter. TBH it tugged at my heart strings a little...poor Lucy. :( However, I am about to insert a villain into the story and I have been toying with several people from Fairy Tail. Specifically from Grimoire Hearts or the Tartaros guild, any suggestion please feel free to drop a review and help me out! As always thank you guys for taking the time to read my story and THANK YOU for all the people who have viewed, liked, followed and especially reviewed the story! Please continue to do so as it keeps me pumped to keep the story going! or to update more frequently anyway ^.^ Until next time! 3_ _arigatou gozaimasu! 3_


	5. Chapter 5

_*Enter Disclaimer here ** I DO NOT own Fairy Tail or all of its wonderful characters ^.^**_

 ** _CHAPTER CONTAINS SPOILERS FROM ANIME AND MANGA, SPECIFICALLY FROM THE TARTAROS ARC FORWARD. Just giving you guys a heads-up in case you have not gotten there yet. I am changing a lot of events from the manga/anime but there are some things I am keeping the same._**

 _A/N I also love to listen to music when I'm writing so if a particular song moves me I'll be sure to include it so you guys can check it out while reading ^.^_

* * *

~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 5~~~~~~~~~~~~

Natsu heard it. Somewhere in the corner of his mind he heard a voice calling his name. Natsu opened his eyes but what he saw was not Happy curled up by the flame from the candle or the four walls of the room. No, what he saw instead was darkness. At the end of the darkness he saw a light. "What the hell…" Natsu wondered aloud as he debated going towards that light since he figured he wasn't really awake. "HA!" Natsu laughed aloud "Since when do I think about things before acting! Im fired up now!"

Pumping his fists in the air, Natsu ran towards the light only stopping when his superior sense of smell caught an aroma that seemed strangely familiar. "Ugh! This shit is pissing me off what the hell am I forgetting!" furious, Natsu rammed his fist into the wall again and again, hoping to break whatever was in front of him that was keeping him from finding out the truth.

Suddenly Natsu tensed. He felt as if the ground was vibrating underneath him. Natsu slowly turned around "oh shit! I've gone and done it now!" looking behind him he saw that the walls were caving in. Natsu ran towards the light to keep from getting flattened by the debris. He stopped when he stepped into an unknown room. In front of him was a fireplace and in front of the glowing fire he could see the silhouette of someone holding what looked to be some sort of animal. It was as if he was looking from the other side of a mirror. He tried going closer to see if he could get a better view of who was in front of him.

Natsu walked until he could not walk any further shock holding him in place.

He stopped breathing, he stopped thinking, the only thing he could do was continue to stare at the girl on the other side of the fire.

Her long blonde hair was half covering her face and she was sitting on a large couch with her knees drawn into her body. She was holding a white dog with a nose that looked like a carrot "maybe it's a snowman…" he thought to himself as he continued to stare at the now familiar sight in front of him.

It was not until the girl tilted her tear stained face and slowly breathed out the word "Nat…su" that he was able to breathe again. He felt the little air that he had in him rush out of his body. Natsu stood there immobilized and slowly fell down on his knees staring at the girl in front of him. This is what he had forgotten and now it was all rushing back to him.

"Lucy" he spoke softly not believing what he was seeing. Natsu rubbed his eyes and looked harder at the girl that for so long was such a part of his life. His Luce…

Hearing her call out his name in her sleep made all of those misty memories real. He remembered the time they were little and they were playing in the snow and he hit her in the face with a snowball causing her to fall into the river. He remembered the absolute terror of thinking that he had hurt her only to get kicked in the face when he and Happy finally got her out. He remembered the adventures they used to go on, the jobs that they did together. He remembered sneaking into her apartment to surprise her when she got home.

She always thought he did it just to annoy her but in reality he and Happy knew just how lonely she was living all alone in that apartment. He remembered the apartment! The apartment that he and Happy were currently sleeping in. He remembered the grand magic games and how much she had fought against the Tartaros guild. He remembered when she sacrificed Aquarius' key and how she comforted him when Igneel was killed by that bastard Acnologia.

"Dammit!" he punched the wall in frustration, "Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! How could I possibly have forgotten you Lucy?" Tears forming in his eyes another memory came to him. One that he preferred would have stayed buried.

The memory of Lucy sobbing over her mother's dead body as Mard Geer prepared to take her out. Everyone in the guild had thought that Mard Geer had been killed by Zeref but it turned out that he hadn't been. For some reason Zeref had allowed him to live. He could not remember just exactly what his goal was he just remembered that Mard Geer was specifically afraid of Lucy. Why he was afraid of her he could not remember. Not that his memory was ever good to begin with he thought to himself. But the important thing was that his memory of her was slowly coming back to him so he stopped worrying about it for now and stood up.

Why was Lucy crying? What had happened to her? Natsu walked closer to the fireplace intending to smash the thing to bits and reach her. "Shit!" screamed Natsu as he bounced against a barrier preventing him from accessing the other side. Natsu saw that he could not reach her so instead decided that it was time for her to wake up.

"Luce! Lucy! Lucy!" yelled Natsu at the top of his lungs banging against the barrier to get her attention. "Lucy wake up! I need you to wake the hell up…!"

Lucy awoke with a start scaring Plue who scrambled off of her lap quickly while giving her a look.

"I'm sorry Plue. Did I squeeze you too hard?" Lucy said getting off of the couch to give him a hug.

"LUCY!"

"What the-"Lucy turned around swearing she had heard someone call her name. Looking into the fireplace she saw the weirdest thing pretty much ever. Although that might have been an exaggeration. But it was not every day that you saw a guy standing behind, what looked like the flames of her fireplace.

She slowly looked at him and noticed he was wearing black sandals, with a pair of loose white pants that did not go past his knees. He was also wearing a black overcoat with an orange stripe down the middle, tied together with a brown belt. The coat only had one sleeve so his left arm was bare and on the side of his shoulder was a red tattoo. Looking further up she noticed that around his neck he wore a white scarf that was adorned with a grey checkered pattern. That scarf reminded her of something but she kept her inspection of him going. She saw that his black eyes looked concerned as he let her take in his appearance. Continuing her scrutiny, she stopped and gasped as she noticed that his hair was pink!

His hair was pink and he wore a scarf! She thought to herself frantically. Is this the boy from my dreams? Lucy walked closer to the fire almost on autopilot.

"Lucy! Stop! LUCY! He screamed trying to get her attention again from across the fire. "The fire cannot hurt me but it can hurt you! Don't move any closer!" He implored, his rich dark eyes looking at her deeply from across the barrier.

Lucy snapped out of the trance that she was in and took a deep breath. "It's you…" she whispered softly. She cleared her dry throat and tried again "It's you." she said louder so that he could hear her this time. "What are you doing over there? How come I can't reach you?"

What a stupid question she thought to herself numbly. I should have asked him who the hell are you and why do I keep having dreams about you? She now knew more than ever that her father had been feeding her a crock of lies.

"I dunno, there is some stupid barrier holding me here and I can't get to you Luce!" He said pushing against the barrier to further prove his point. "I am going to figure out what the hell is going on and come find you I promise." Natsu spoke with a determined expression. He was pretty freaking furious that he could not reach her.

Lucy sighed "This is going to sound stupid but since I am talking to someone through a fire I figure it doesn't matter at this point. Who are you and why do I keep having dreams about you and a blue talking cat?" Standing as close to the fire as she dared to make sure he heard her question this time.

Natsu stood floored. She doesn't remember me? What the hell is going on? Well oh course it makes sense you idiot he thought to him, if I couldn't remember her than why should she remember everything.

Let's see if getting her riled up wont shake up some memories for her. It sounded like a pretty genius plan to him, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

"Wow Lucy." He said placing his hands behind his head, "I mean I always thought you had a couple of screws loose. I mean some of the ideas you come up with are pretty wonky but you don't even remember me." He shuffled his feet from side to side looking at her face. He noticed that her cheeks were becoming flustered with anger. "You always said you were pretty smart but I dunno if I believe- "

"OH YEA! THAT'S RICH COMING FROM YOU NATSU, YOU IDIOT!" Lucy roared stopping herself short to gasp as she realized she said his name aloud almost on reflex. Lucy backed up until her legs hit the chair and she sat down.

Natsu…

How could she have forgotten Natsu and Happy. The dam burst and she remembered everything about him. The way he smelled, his cocky attitude, the way he would protect everyone in the guild…especially her. She remembered her feelings for him and that she wouldn't in a million years let him know it. The guild! She thought, she remembered the Fairy Tail guild and all of the members.

"I remember you Natsu! She exclaimed happily jumping up from her chair. "I remember Happy, Fairy Tail and Magnolia. It's strange though there are still a lot of pieces missing. Like what am I doing here living with my father of all people, and in a place where I can't use magic." Lucy rubbed her head trying to sort out this mess.

"Magic! I was a celestial wizard. Oh God…" she spoke through a sob. "How could I have forgotten that important bond?"

"It's okay Lucy! It took you enough time just to remember me. Jeez! and we all know I am the important one here." He said with a smirk on his face. Natsu was happy that she remembered him but felt horrible that he could not get to her to help her when she looked so lost and confused.

"Look Lucy, I don't know what's going on but we need to figure out how I can get to you so that I can bring you back home." He said, pressing both palms against the barrier.

"I'm in Edolas" she said without thinking because her mind was racing a mile a minute, trying to make sense of everything.

"Edolas…what the hell, I thought we closed that portal to get th-"

Natsu and Lucy both jumped and turned at the sound of a loud boom and crash from somewhere in the house.

"Lucy! What was that?" Natsu pounded against the barrier, "Dammit! I've had enough of this shit!" magic power coursing through him. "FIRE DRAGON IRON FIST"

Lucy could only look as a brilliant red flame covered the barrier and a resounding boom was heard. "Natsu!? NATSU!" She screamed worried that something had happened to him.

"I'm okay. I'm okay."

Lucy looked over to see him sprawled across the floor almost having knocked himself out as his dragon slayer magic bounced back against him. Dammit he was so impulsive. I swear he is going to be the death of me she thought relieved that he was okay.

Lucy was startled by the sound of another loud boom and a male voice. That was her father! "Natsu I have to go, I heard my father's voice. I have to see what's wrong!" Turning away from the fire, thoughts of her father's well being floated through her mind.

"Wait Lucy!" He jumped up from the floor looking at her intensely. "I am going to figure out how to get to you!"

"Natsu! I promise I am not going to forget you and I WILL find a way to get to you. I promise!" Turning to him one more time, she left the room with tears in her eyes. "I missed you guys so much." She smiled and ran out of the door before he could say anything else.

Natsu banged against the barrier "LUCY NO! LUCY COME BACK! LUCY!" He exclaimed screaming himself hoarse. Natsu felt the walls starting to shake again "DAMMIT! NOT THIS AGAIN!" He turned to run away from the barrier, gasping for air as he started to outrun the cave-in that was happening behind him.

Natsu woke up panting. He tried to slow his breathing as he jumped up from where he was lying down. Lucy… his partner, the person that meant so much to him was in trouble and he couldn't do anything about it. "DAMMIT!" he yelled waking up Happy in the process.

"Natsu…whats wrong?" Happy rubbed his eyes sleepily trying to see what was going on with his best friend.

Natsu was just about to answer when unexpectedly someone appeared in Lucy's room.

"Mest…what the hell are you doing here?" Natsu suddenly remembering the kind of magic Mest used ran and grabbed him by his collar. Natsu looked at Mest furiously as thoughts of killing him began to play through his mind.

"What have you done to Lucy!? YOU BASTARD!…"

* * *

 _A/N I hope you guys enjoyed the much awaited moment between Natsu and Lucy and I made it extra long for you guys :). There will be many more feels to come as I cannot get enough of these two! Once again thank you for everyone that has viewed, followed and favorited my story! It means so much that 7 people have favorited it and 16 people are following the story! Seriously it means a lot! I hope you guys enjoy! As always drop a review if you like what you see and have any suggesting for some funny NaLu moments! Until next time guys!_

 _*arigatou gozaimasu* ^.^_


	6. Chapter 6

_***** **AS ALWAYS I DO NOT OWN Fairy Tail or its pretty freaking awesome characters!***_

 _ **CHAPTER MAY CONTAINS SPOILERS FROM ANIME AND MANGA, SPECIFICALLY FROM THE TARTAROS ARC FORWARD. I did change a lot actually so I really don't think there are any specific spoilers but you can never be too safe!**_

 _A/N I was listening to It's About Time by Barcelona when writing some of these scenes. Scenes of Natsu thinking about Lucy just kept playing. You'll know what I mean if you listen to the song ;)_

 _Finally, guys! The chapter explaining just what is going on with poor Lucy and Natsus' memories._

* * *

~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 6 ~~~~~~~~~~~~

Natsu was hearing voices around him. He felt as if he was in a daze.

"You could have at least told him what was going on!"

"Happy?" Natsu was confused, he felt that he did not have full control of his body and yet he knew Mest had something to do with the current mess he was in.

Happy looked down at his partner lying in a heap on the floor of the guild.

"Happy, you know better than anyone that Natsu wouldn't have listened to me." Mest rubbed his temples as he fought back a headache. He knew things were about to get crazy in the guild but in all fairness he had just been following orders!

"I know that Mest, but you didn't have to blast that lacrima in his face!" Happy flew over to where Natsu was slowly coming to. "I mean sure he most likely was going to try to kill you but considering that something strange is going on, maybe you should have just let him!"

Ever protective of his friend, Happy did not like it when anyone messed with him.

Wendy rushed over to the pair. "What in the world is going on? What's wrong with Natsu-san?" she kneeled next to him ready to start healing him with her sky dragon slayer magic.

Mest sat down in one of the benches. "It's kind of a long story Wendy, and I am not sure if I am the best person to really tell you what's going on." Now that headache that was slow in coming decided to pound inside of Mest's head.

"Gihee, what's Salamander doing on the floor lookin' like one of Happy's dead fish?" Gajeel chuckled at his own joke moving to stand beside Wendy.

Everyone else in the guild started walking over to where the group was, wondering just what was going on.

"Laying on the floor is not MANLY! GET UP Natsu!" Elfman crossed his arms staring down at the fire dragon slayer who still had not fully woken up.

"Mest, what is the meaning of this?" Erza asked, anger slowly seeping into her voice, clearly upset that she had been interrupted when eating one of her delicious strawberry cakes. She did not mind if she was the reason Natsu was passed out but she was not about to let anyone hurt one of her friends if it was not done in one of the random bar fights everyone liked to join in on.

Mest stood up which sent the Requip mage's further on edge. "Erza, it's not like that I swear. I only sprayed him with the chloroform lacrima because he broke the memory spell I had weaved and I didn't have much time. I figured it was easier to subdue him and bring him here so everyone could hear what is going on."

Natsu could now really hear what everyone around him was saying, and he was grateful to Wendy's magic which was waking his limbs up one by one. For once in his life, Natsu decided to stay still. He focused his breathing and opened himself up to let Wendy's magic work quicker.

"He's waking up!" Wendy exclaimed feeling the magic coursing through her quicken. Natsu must have been helping her which was odd. Normally he just let her do what she needed to do without giving her any extra energy.

Natsu jumped up suddenly which caused everyone in the guild (especially Mest) to back up a couple of steps.

"Mest…." Natsu growled under his breath. Beyond livid with this situation, he didn't have time for this he needed answers, his Lucy was in trouble…he just knew it.

"LUCY IS IN TROUBLE! CUT THE SHIT AND TELL ME WHAT YOU DID TO ME!" Turning on his fire he was determined to get his answers one way or another.

"Lu-cy…?" Wendy's eyes bulged as she stood up.

"Lucy…" Gray said walking over to the group Juvia trailing behind him.

"Lu-chan…" Levy stood up letting her book fall from her hands.

"Lucy." Erza stared blindly at Mest as images were filling her memory of a spunky blond haired girl who was one of her closest friends.

Happy simply flew over to where Charle and Lily were standing by one of the tables in the guild. He felt horrible about it too. When Natsu had first said Lucy's name back in the apartment the memories came flooding back to him. Lucy was their partner and he especially loved how she would sneak him some fish every now and then. He couldn't believe he had forgotten her.

You could hear a pin drop in the guild for a spilt second, it was as if a lightbulb had been turned on and one by one people started remembering the very person that was such a big part of their family.

Natsu rushed to where Mest was standing, preparing his body for a roar attack, he didn't care if it would destroy the guild, he didn't care if it would hurt Mest all he wanted was to get to Lucy and Mest was stopping him from doing that.

"FIRE DRAGON-"

"ENOUGH!"

A booming voice was heard from the back of the guild as a giant hand landed on top of Natsu's body crushing him to the floor and momentarily disorienting him, which kept him from the roar attack that he was planning on doing.

Makarov looked at all of his children sighing deeply. He knew this moment would come when he came to the agreement with Jude and Layla Heartfilia one year ago. Too long he worried about what was happening to Lucy in Edolas but he had to respect her parents' wishes so instead he had kept quiet. But no longer. The truth was something that his children deserved.

"Master, what exactly is going on?" Mirajane walked over and placed a hand over the concerned Master's shoulder.

Natsu squirmed underneath his huge hand "Gramps! Let me go! I have to go save her! We don't have time for this!" Natsu wriggled, frustrated that he could not get out from under him.

"Natsu." Happy flew over to his best friend and looked into his eyes. Natsu looked like he was in pain but it didn't look like Gramps was hurting him. It must be from forgetting about Lucy. Happy knew how important Lucy was to Natsu and it was nice to see that Natsu finally figured out how important she was to him.

Then again knowing Natsu, maybe not… he thought to himself. "Let's see what Gramps has to say. Maybe it will help us find her."

Natsu stopped moving. Gramps seemed determined to keep him in place and he was gonna give him five minutes to say whatever it was that he needed to say. After that all bets were off he thought to himself.

Makarov cleared his throat while looking at every one of the guild members. "I made the decision to have Mest wipe every ones' memories except for his own, Mavis and mine. Anyone who came into contact with Lucy was made to forget about her."

Before he could be interrupted he continued. "During our battle with Tartaros Lucy's parents received a letter. The letter was addressed to them from Igneel, the King of the fire dragons"

"Igneel! Igneel wrote them a letter? But how?!" Natsu tried even harder to get up. Why would his father write a letter to Lucy's parents?

"Natsu" Erza said coldly staring at him pointedly. "Let. Him. Finish"

Natsu gulped and kept his questions to himself.

"Igneel must have written this letter before his appearance in Tartaros. The letter discussed the true power of the celestial spirit wizard. He explained that Lucy possess the innate True Magic of the Stars. It is because of this power that she was not trapped by Mard Geer's spell, Alegria."

Everyone stood rooted to their spots, just looking at the Master in disbelief.

"Lucy has no idea that she has this magical power inside of her. Apparently the power that she has inside of her rivals Acnologia, and if released could even be used towards the destruction of Zeref and E.N.D."

Levy gasped. "Rivals the power of Acnologia…?"

"But that seems impossible. I mean we all know Lucy's powers have grown…but to that extent?" Gray leaned forward confused as hell about what the Master was saying.

"Tch. I never knew blondie had it in her." Gajeel muttered underneath his breath which brought up murmurs from other members of the guild.

"SILENCE"

Everyone stopped talking.

"As I was saying, due to this Layla and Jude requested to see me to discuss the best possible course of action. I of course wanted to keep her in Magnolia. I believe you all are more than capability to protect Lucy should something happen".

"Damn right! Natsu shot out from under Gramps fist, "We will do whatever it takes!".

The master just looked at Natsu, "However after hearing about the way Igneel was killed by Acnologia that was not an option her parents wanted to hear about." He sighed rubbing his temples. He really was starting to feel the weight of his decisions on his shoulder. "Her parents decided it would best to take her somewhere where her magical ability would not awaken and she would not be found"

"BUT WE COULDA PROTECTED HER!" Natsu yelled moving away from Gramps now limp fist so he couldn't be flattened again.

"I COULD NOT GO AGAINST HER PARENTS WISHES!" Makarov glared at Natsu but decided to keep talking. "It was decided that we would send her to Edolas while Natsu, Gray, Wendy, Happy, Charle, and Erza were on a mission."

"Lucy received word from her parents the day you guys were going to the city of Crocus to see about a disturbance being caused there."

"I remember now." Erza said looking off into the distance, "She was supposed to come with us but told us that there was something urgent happening at home so she would catch up with us later."

"Yeah." Gray said shaking his head. "We told her we would go with her but she just said it was fine and that she would see us later."

"Yes" Makarov paused briefly. "I had already spoken to Mest and Mavis and while we did not agree with the decision we respected her parents's wishes. Jude and Layla were going to drug Lucy's tea and then Mest, with the help of Mavis would wipe the memories of Lucy and anyone who knew of her. "

Makarov inhaled deeply before continuing. "We arrived too late. Mard Geer had already known Lucy was going to visit her parents, apparently he suspected something after seeing her ability to summon the Celestial Spirit King and arrived before we did."

"Layla used the last of her magical power to save Lucy and in the process was killed right before Jude and Lucy's eyes. Lucy could not have done anything to save her mother because she was feeling the effects of the drug in her system. Jude explained to me that apparently something snapped inside of Lucy and a white light equivalent to Fairy Law burst forth from her."

"I do not believe that her power fully awoke in that moment, but I do believe her celestial spirits and the last of Layla's magic protected her enough to drive Mard Geer away." Makarov walked over to the bar and grabbed the drink Mirajane held out to him.

"When we arrived her father was in shock and Lucy was inconsolably crying over the dead body of her mother. No matter what we said she was determined to find him and kill him along with everyone else associated with Zeref and Acnologia. The drugs finally took effect due to her using so much magic power and that was when we made the decision to wipe her memories"

Makarov stood up again causing everyone to take a step back. "Now that Natsu has made contact with her, the spell that Mest and Mavis weaved has been broken and that is why you all remember her now."

He bowed his head, "I am truly sorry for having to lie to you all and I am truly sorry for not being able to tell you this sooner."

Natsu looked over at Gramps. He really did look like he felt bad. He sighed. What a mess! Poor Lucy, he can't even imagine what she must be going through… "WAIT! She is in trouble now! When I saw her we heard a loud noise and someone yelled. I just know something bad happened and I can't wait around anymore!"

"AYE SIR! Let's go save Lucy!" Happy flew over and landed on Natsu's shoulders.

"Juvia thinks we should leave at once! Juvia cannot imagine the danger she could be in." Momentarily forgetting that Lucy was one of her love rivals for Gray-sama and went to follow Gray out of the guild hall.

Everyone started talking at once. A couple of people were talking about the best way to get to her, while others were shocked that they had forgotten about her. Suddenly one by one everyone became silent.

One by one people start feeling this intense amount of magic pressure and power. Natsu turned and notices that Erza's eyes were filled with rage. She had tears forming in her eyes but they were not falling.

"There are no words for what I am feeling right now. Guildmates are supposed to protect each other. Be there for each other. We are a family, Lucy is one of us and to think that the chance to protect her was taken from us infuriates me more than I can say." She turned and looked at the Master.

"Master, I understand why you felt that you needed to hide this from us. While I am hurt and beyond furious that does not matter right now. Right now we need to save Lucy. What do we need to do?" Erza walked over to stand by Natsu ready to stop him if he decided to do something foolish.

"We need our three dragon slayers to open the portal. The portal is in Lucy's old apartment. If we combine our dragon slayers' powers with her celestial spirit magic on the other side, the portal will open."

"But how will Lucy-san know to open the portal?" asked Wendy as she stood up, ready to get their friend back.

Makarov answered before Mest had a chance to say anything. "Even though she is unaware of it, her celestial spirits know of the decision we made and if she truly is in danger they will take her to the right place so that we can get her back. I had the discussion with them myself before Lucy's memories were taken. Now enough talking! LETS GO!"

"AYE SIR! LET'S GO GET LUCY BACK!" Happy yelled, jumping off of Natsu's back spreading his white wings into the air.

Natsu smiled ready to do whatever it took to get her back safe and sound, "NOW IM ALL FIRED UP!"

* * *

 ** _A/N_** _ **As always thank you to everyone who is currently reading my story! I can't believe it has over 900 views and 18 followers, 3 reviews and 11 favorites! This is my first NaLu FanFic so needless to say I was nervous about sharing with the world! Please review and let me know what you think it really makes me feel so grateful to you guys and gets me even more motivated to keep writing!**_

 _I gave you guys a longer chapter since it's the explanation. I also tend to get lost in my world when I write. Any suggestions, constructive criticisms to help improve my writing or just saying what you think about the story is super helpful to me! Do you guys like the length or should I let myself get carried away and write longer chapters? Let me know! ;)_

 _Until next time guys!_

 _*arigatou gozaimasu* ^.^_


	7. Chapter 7

_**AS ALWAYS I DO NOT OWN Fairy Tail cuz you know if I did certain scenes between certain couples would have been cannon! *cough cough* NaLu! *cough cough***_

 _ **I also realized I did not specify that this story was an AU so im saying it now! I am changing a lot of the story to suit where my little writer mind wants to go. Some of the magical abilities may be tweaked but hopefully not enough that people will gasp or yell that this isn't possible! Heheh**_

 _ **I am keeping a lot the same so due to that here is your disclaimer! CHAPTER MAY CONTAINS SPOILERS FROM ANIME AND MANGA, SPECIFICALLY FROM THE TARTAROS ARC FORWARD.**_

 _Don't say I didn't warn you ;)_

* * *

~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 7 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lucy pushed through the double doors of the library, her mind racing. Natsu Dragneel? How could she have forgotten him? I mean sure he was known for his notoriously bad memory. The guy could destroy a building in one flame wing swoop and then forget he did it within the next hour, but she wasn't like that.

Lucy was the type of person who remembered things, people and more importantly, the bonds that she had with said people. She remembered the bonds with her celestial spirits, the many times that they helped her in battle, how they teased her (especially Loke), how they made her laugh, how they frustrated her with their antics or perverted ways, and even that they occasionally tried to destroy her with their magic.

Aquarius popped into her mind with that thought. "Oh Aquarius, I'm so sorry I forgot you." Tears falling down her face as she continued to run towards her father's study.

Lucy had been through a lot. She had been through battles and many adventures where she had to fight for her life, but that battle with Jackal was probably the toughest battle she ever had to fight. Not having anyone from the guild there, having their lives placed in her hands was the biggest responsibility she had to face.

Breaking Aquarius' key had been one of the hardest decisions she had to make. Even though she knew that it needed to happen, that it was the only way to save her friends and she was quickly running out of magic power. It was still hard, Aquarius for as much as she used to say she hated Lucy was the first spirit she had been given by her mother. It was because of that, they shared such a strong bond.

It was due to that same bond that she had been able to summon the Celestial Spirit King and save everyone from his Alegria spell.

She decided to not think about that day anymore as it was too painful. For now, her priority had to be to find out what was happening with her father and to figure out a way to get back to Natsu and the others. She still did not know why or how she and her parents ended up in Edolas of all places. How her celestial spirits all ended up becoming servants, since she now recognized that her servants were in fact her spirits. She found it strange that she hadn't seen any of them in her mad dash to get to her father. Usually she couldn't go too far without one of them popping up.

Lucy placed one hand on the railing as she propelled her body over it. Ever since she had been unable to use her magical ability (even in the limited sense) her father had insisted that she become trained in martial arts. So for the past year Lucy had become skilled in self-defense and hand-to-hand combat. At the time it didn't make sense. I mean life was pretty mundane but now she could see why her father had told Capricorn and Loke to train her. It helped her feel slightly safer that she could defend herself.

The closer she got to her father's study the louder the voices became.

Mard Geer stood in front of the fireplace facing Jude. The look on his face was a cross between satisfaction and arrogance at the thought of being so close to killing the one who could harm his master.

"Well, needless to say it has greatly displeased me that it took me this long to find you. I did not believe you would have been capable of alluding me for this long." He wiped at some lint on his sleeve appearing as composed as ever. "Although, I know that it was not achieved by you alone. My ability to find anyone had been blocked somehow. I can only think those miserable wizards from Fairy Tail had something to do with it."

Jude could not help but stare at the man that caused his family such misfortune. At the man that had caused him to basically push his daughter away. That same monster who had taken his beloved Layla from his side.

Now he was here, threatening the life of the only person he had left to protect. The only person that meant anything to him in this world.

"How did you find us?" It made no sense to him. He and Makarov planned it perfectly. Mard Geer should not have been able to get here of all places. A place where his magical ability should have been stunted. Yet here he was standing in his study without a care in the world.

Jude pressed his back against the study doors, praying to anything that his daughter had not heard the noise and come to investigate. Although considering his daughter he felt that those prayers would fall on deaf ears.

Mard Geer simply looked at Jude. "Conveniently for me you have the foolish Natsu to thank for that" Mard stared at his hands and yawned, appearing to the world as if he did not have a care in the world.

"Natsu?" Jude appeared confused. "But…that doesn't make any sense, his memory was also wiped."

"Yes it was. However, it appears you all underestimated the connection those two have. For that, I am eternally grateful."

Jude couldn't believe it. He had tried so hard to keep her safe but now he understood what Makarov had meant if things had gone wrong. Makarov had warned him that if they went to Edolas, Fairy Tail would not be able to help them. That the very magic Jude was trying so hard to run away from was the very thing that could save his Lucy.

He now realized what Makarov meant about the bond Lucy and Natsu shared. That no matter the time or distance, eventually something would happen that would cause them to remember. Oh why did he not remove her from this place once Lucy had come to talk to him about her dream? Why did he think he could just yell at her and hope that this would all go away?

Jude stiffened his spine. Now was not the time for regrets.

Mard interrupted Jude's thoughts, "Enough of this! Tell me where your daughter is and I may feel generous enough not to kill you as well!" Mard was growing tired of the back and forth small talk. It had taken him too long to find the girl and she needed to be stopped at all costs. He could not let her power become unleashed and stop his master Zeref or their Lord E.N.D.

Jude felt his body grow rigid and his heartbeat pound within his chest, "Listen to me you monster as I will only say this once. I DO NOT CARE what happens to me!" He glared at Mard Geer as if he was an insect to be squashed underneath his boot.

"But I WILL NOT let you have MY DAUGHTER!"

Jude reached behind and opened a slit next to his doorframe. Inside the slit was a 20-inch steel blade Katana. He had purchased the weapon when he first moved to Edolas. Knowing the potential danger they faced, Jude had the "servants" place random weapons around the house in case something like this were to occur.

"Ohhhh..." Mard Geer sneered, an evil glint appearing in his eyes. "This should prove interesting…"

The door slammed inward barely hitting Jude from behind.

"FATHER!" Lucy screamed at the top of her lungs lunging forward to put herself between her father and the very man who caused her to break Aquarius' key. Lucy stared wide eyed as she noticed her father was holding a Katana.

"Lucy! I need you to get out of here!" He implored pushing her behind him not moving his gaze from the demon standing in front of him.

"Hmm. Would you look at that? Here I thought I would need to go searching for you after getting rid of your father."

Lucy stood rooted to her spot as if iron shackles had been placed around her ankles. What was he doing here? Better yet, why was she trembling in fear? She thought he had been destroyed by Zeref after Natsu and Grey defeated him in the battle of Tartaros. Ugh! Her memory should have stopped being so hazy by now!

"What the hell do you want with my father?" Lucy moved, trying but failing to put herself in front of her father because no matter what, she could not let anything happen to him.

Mard Geer lifted his chin staring at her questioningly. "So it seems you still do not know then." He smiled while raising his arm to prepare to attack. "Unfortunately I do not have the time to chat. It is time for your father to meet the same fate as your mother!"

Lucys eyes opened wide, "Her mother…? What...does…he…mean?" Her heart started pounding loudly in her chest, she could feel her blood start to boil and a memory slowly began to come into place.

"NO!" Jude pushed Lucy further back in an attempt to protect her with his body.

"You are too late!" he shouted as he waved his hand. "THORN CURSE DEA YGGDRASIL!"

Lucy closed her eyes expecting to be blasted by a powerful spinning sphere attack.

Yet nothing happened.

Lucy was confused for a minute. Then she remembered something important. They were in Edolas! If she couldn't use her internal magic then it was safe to say that he couldn't use his either!

"Capricorn!" Jude yelled through the passageway that Lucy had left open when she ran in.

"Yes Sir!" Capricorn appeared almost at once quickly taking in everything that had happened.

"Take Lucy and go! You know what you must do." Jude pushed Lucy towards him.

"NO! I have waited too long for this moment and you will not stop me!"

Swords clashed as Mard Geer pulled out his weapon now realizing that magic was futile in this place. Jude pushed him back after Mard Geer attempted to slice him.

"GET HER OUT NOW!"

"But sir…" Capricorn was torn between protecting his mistress and helping the man who had gone through so much.

In front of Lucy all she could see were the clashing of swords as her father attempted to keep Mard Geer away. He would lunge forward as Mard Geer side stepped. Her father jumped over his blade and stepped on it. The momentum momentarily confusing Mard Geer. Her father took advantage of that moment and kicked him full in the face. Mard Geer crashed against the large bookcase where her father kept all of his important documents, momentarily stunned.

"Lucy." Her father turned to her." I love you more than anything in this world. Anything that I have ever said to you, that caused you pain, I only did it to protect you."

Her father grabbed her and pushed her out of the room. "Live Lucy, live for both your mother and me. You will know exactly what you need to do. After all you are just like your mother." Jude looked at Lucy one last time memorizing the vision of his daughter. His daughter that looked so much like the woman who would always hold his heart, Layla. With those last words Jude slammed the door in Lucy's face.

"NO FATHER!" She banged on the door again and again, the tears threatening to choke her, streaming down her face. "I CAN'T LOSE YOU! PLEASE FATHER!" All she could hear through her own banging was the sound of metal clashing and a scream that sounded like it came from her father.

"FATHER!"

"There is no time Miss Lucy we must go! Remember what your father said." Snapping out of his daze Capricorn did not wait for a reply, he picked Lucy up and began running towards the manor library.

Through the communications lacrima on his ear he called Virgo first, then Loke, and informed them of the situation. "You know where to go." Capricorn said to Loke before turning the piece off.

Lucy felt as if she was in a dream. This can't be real. This really can't be happening. I have to go back and save him!

Before she knew it she was inside of the library once again facing the fire. She looked around and saw Virgo.

"Princess, we must hurry!" She implored grabbing Lucy and heading towards the fireplace, her metal handcuffs clinking against her wrists.

"What is taking them so long?" Virgo asked Capricorn who was pacing back and forth in front of the door.

"Why is who taking so long?" Lucy asked while sitting on the chair that Virgo had pushed her into. She felt as if she was going crazy, her father…

"The dragon slayers from Fairy Tail and Loke, princess." She said matter of factly.

"Miss Lucy we need the three dragon slayers in your apartment in Magnolia, and you with us here in Edolas for the portal to be opened temporarily. That will be enough to send you back to them while we hold off Mard Geer."

Hold off Mard Geer… "Hold on! No one, and I MEAN NO ONE IS GOING TO HOLD OFF ANYONE!" She stood up looking each one of them in the eyes. "I may not know everything that is going on and everything is an absolute mess, but I do remember you guys! I do remember that you are my spirits, my friends… and I WILL NOT put you in harms way for me!"

"I CAN FIGHT!" She yelled out loud. She was tired of always being protected. Tired of being kept in the dark and tired of seeing the people she loved being harmed...because of her.

They all turned at the sound of the door opening.

"Lucy"

"Oh Loke!" She cried running over to him and embracing him. Loke could be a big pervert most of the time and was constantly talking about his love for her, but she knew that he was the one person that she could trust. He was the most powerful of all of her spirits.

"Lucy I know you can fight. All of us here know it, but there is something that is more important right now. I wish I could explain everything to you and I promise that it will be explained to you." He lifted her chin to look him in the eyes. "But for now I need you to trust us. Trust that we know what we are doing and that we will not let anything happen to you or us."

Lucy looked at Loke. Really looked at him and slowly gave him a shaky, tear-filled smile. "Okay...I trust you."

Capricorn, Loke, and Virgo busied themselves with channeling the magic energy on this side to aid the dragon slayers in opening the portal. She noticed the flames were acting differently. They were slowly building up in volume until it seemed like there was a firestorm happening in place of the small fire. The fire kept increasing in strength until it created what looked like a small void. Through the void she could hear familiar voices.

"Keep going Natsu-san. I think it working!" Wendy yelled with her eyes closed concentrating all of her magical energy into Natsu.

Lucy focused closely on what was inside the flames and she could see Gajeel and Wendy standing behind Natsu. All three of them had their eyes closed and appeared to be channeling their magic into him somehow.

Natsu's eyes opened in that moment. "Lucy! You'll need to jump through!"

Lucy looked skeptical at the firestorm, I mean sure she had been burned before during her many adventures with him but she didn't possess the same internal magic that she did before. What if this didn't work?

"COME ON LUCY! I GOT YOU!" Natsu looked so worried. It had been such a long time since she had seen that expression on his face. Then again maybe I'm imagining things considering everything that has happened so far. She shook her head to clear her thoughts, this was Natsu and he would never put her in harms way.

"Come on Lucy! We will protect you no matter what!" Happy said smiling urging Lucy to pass through the void.

"OKAY!" She yelled preparing herself.

She turned one last time, "What about you guys?" She asked the three celestial spirits behind her.

"We will be fine princess, I will have need of your punishment later as I did not get to you in time earlier." Virgo smiled at Lucy.

Lucy simply smiled and nodded. Taking a deep breath, she pushed through the barrier of fire.

She tensed, her body expecting to feel an intense heat, but instead what she felt was a familiar warmth. The smoldering fire was not burning her but instead she felt cocooned in its safety. The very familiar feel of Natsu permeated through her entire being.

She continued to push through when she heard a crash. She stopped and looked behind her to see Loke in a fight with Mard Geer. Capricorn and Virgo continued to channel whatever power they had left to keep the portal open.

"Oi! Blondie hurry up we can't keep this up for much longer!" Gajeel yelled through gritted teeth at her from the other side. She could see that keeping this up was taking a toll on him.

"LOKE! NO!"

Lucy almost turned around to go back when she saw Loke push Mard Geer into a corner.

"LUCY GO! Remember what I said to you and trust me!" He didn't even bother to look at her trusting that she would listen to him.

"Loke!" She yelled, stopping once again.

He glanced at her from the corner of his eyes.

"You promise you will come back to me?!"

She was not moving until he promised. "All of you promise?!" She said looking at all of them individually. At the people who meant so much to her.

"I promise! There is nothing that would keep me away" Loke said fully turning away from her, the others nodded in agreement. "Now GO!"

Natsu couldn't take it anymore, he jumped in pushing through the firestorm he created and felt her hand. "LET'S GO!" He screamed pulling her free from the firestorm only to have her land on top of him.

The firestorm exploded and collapsed. The only noise being heard in the room were the sounds of the dragon slayers panting from exertion and Lucy's labored breathing.

Natsu looked up at the girl sprawled on top of him.

"Welcome home," he said smiling and holding back the tears that threatened to escape at the feel of her in his arms again.

Lucy simply stared into his warm black eyes, completely forgetting that they were in a room with other people, she threw her arms around him inhaling his smoky scent and said softly through tears. "I'm home."

* * *

 _ **A/N** __**As always thank you to everyone who is currently reading my story! I can't believe it has over 1,214 views and 22 followers, 3 reviews and 13 favorites!**_

 _ **You guys basically make my heart go pitter pater when I see my e-mail flood with stuff!**_

 _ **I decided that I would just go with my gut feeling and write slighty longer chapters since things are starting to heat up now tehehehe pun intended.**_

 _ **Anyway drop a review guys and let me know what you think! Or you know…I can always just go count mushrooms in a corner all sad and lonely **goes to dark corner and faces wall****_

 _ **JK! But seriously lemme know what you guys think! I don't bite…well most days I don't…**_

 _ **Until next time guys!**_

 _ ***arigatou gozaimasu* ^.^**_


	8. Chapter 8

**_As always I DO NOT OWN FAIRY TAIL…whomp whomp…le sigh… all credits go to the amazing Hiro for that one!_**

 ** _WARNING! WARNING! CHAPTERS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FROM THE ANIME/MANGA FROM TARTAROS ARC FORWARD!_**

 ** _Wooo, this chapter was much longer than normal but I let my little heart just write ;) This is the edited version, my beta finally got around to it :)_**

 ** _ENJOY GUYS!_**

* * *

~~~~~~ Chapter 8 ~~~~~~~~~~~

Natsu stared at the sobbing celestial wizard who at the moment, was holding him as if her life depended on it.

He inhaled deeply catching her lavender scent. Natsu smiled into her hair.

He used to make fun of her for putting so many different salts into her baths and always smelling of lavender, but wow, it had been so long since he smelled this familiar aroma.

"Are you gonna let her go anytime soon?" Gajeel smirked. "Or you gonna keep sniffing her cuz you know…We can leave you guys alone if you need the space?" It seemed that the iron dragon slayer had finally caught his breath after using so much magical power to help open the vortex.

He was making a jab at the Salamander, but the truth was he felt terrible for forgetting about the cheerleader…and he knew Levy felt even worse seeing as how Lucy was one her best friends.

 _WOAH!_ Natsu stopped himself as Gajeel's words slowly permeated his brain. _What the hell was he doing sniffing his partner_? He was glad they couldn't hear what he was telling himself. If he had said it aloud Gajeel and Happy never would have let him live it down.

"SHUT UP IRON ASS! I wasn't sniffin' her!"

Wendy walked over to the pair lying by Lucy's fireplace. "Lucy-san! I am so glad you're here. Are you okay? Are you hurt?" The sky dragon slayer looked over Lucy, worry etched in her light brown eyes. She also noticed how Lucy had not stopped crying and hadn't released Natsu since coming back to Earthland. It was almost as if she was afraid that she would vanish again.

"Lucy!" Happy opened his white wings to fly over to Lucy. She caught him and brought the exceed close to her hugging him.

Lucy couldn't help it. She was feeling so overwhelmed by her friends, the guild that she loved more than anything was finally here. She was finally home and… _OMG I'm thrown all over Natsu and everyone's looking!_

Lucy backed away from him finally looking at everyone who was in the room. She saw Wendy, Charle, Gajeel and Lily standing off to the side. Looked around her now familiar apartment trying to peer into other areas of the tiny space. Where was everyone else? Lucy rubbed her eyes, drying the tears from her face.

"Where is everyone else? I'm surprised they aren't trying to fit in my apartment…and the fact that they left you guys to handle things by yourselves is shocking too." She said smiling for the first time since passing through the vortex.

"Erza decided that it would be best for only the dragon slayers to be in the apartment in case something happened. She then decided that the whole guild did not need to be here because she knew that would be too overwhelming so it's just us, Erza, and Gray. She has a telepathic link set up with Warren in case we needed back-up. Erza and Gray are actually waiting for us outside." Happy explained content to simply have Lucy carry him. He noticed that it seemed to bring Lucy some comfort to hold him plus he didn't have to waste any magic power flying... so it was kind of a win win for him.

"LUCY!" Erza burst into the room sensing the magical energy that arrived when Lucy crossed into Earthland. She stopped dead in her tracks once she saw her friend standing there holding Happy.

"Oh! Lucy you are alright?!" She ran over to hug the celestial wizard. Erza grabbed Lucy's hand. "I am truly sorry that I had forgotten you, I cannot imagine the pain you must have felt at being forgotten by everyone."

Erza pushed on solemnly. "It is unforgivable that we did not break the spell and figure everything out before Natsu did! Please I must make amends!"

"Erza! It's okay!" Lucy looked at Erza taking in the fact that she was really there. She was really standing in front of Erza. She spoke sheepishly. "You guys were not the only ones…it seems I did not remember anyone either…I just started having dreams of Natsu and Happy recently-"

"Oh...It's not surprising you were dreaming about Flame Brain." Gray casually walked over to Lucy with a smile lighting up his dark blue eyes. "I mean for the past couple of days he's been walking around like a zombie."

"You should have seen him Lucy!" Happy caught Lucy's attention again. "He kept saying 'There's something I'm forgetting, something important that means a lot to me.'" Happy snickered, looking at the fire dragon slayer in question.

Lucy blushed thinking that his worry for her, had caused him to act so out of character, enough so, that other people had noticed his strange behavior.

"HAPPY!" Natsu stood up shaking his fist at his partner. "I don't know what you're talkin' about! Don't be tellin' them what we talk about when we leave the guild!" Natsu threatened his partner even though everyone around him could tell he wasn't being serious.

"Aye sir!"

"GRAY! Who you calling Flame Brain?! Ice Princess! LET'S FIGHT!"

Lucy looked around at her friends and smiled as the familiar feeling of home washed over her. Her guildmates were the people who were always with her in good times and bad. They were the people who she considered family. She knew that they would lay down their very lives for her and she would do the same for them. She couldn't believe that she had forgotten about them and she could not wait to be filled in on what happened during the year that she was gone.

Gray removed his shirt smashing his right fist into his left palm. Ice began to form in his hand. "I'm pretty sure you heard me right…"

"Guys?" Wendy questioned nervously. "I don't think now is the best time…"

"Such a rowdy guild." Charle said shaking her head from her spot next to the sky dragon slayer.

"Gajeel? Are you going to join also?" Lily spoke from the corner of the room where he was watching the iron dragon slayer.

"Nah Lily, those two are so weak I'll just take on whichever one gets beat…although I don't expect it will last long." Gajeel responded seemingly uninterested in the devil ice slayer and fire dragon slayer.

"WHAT DID YA SAY SCRAP EATING JERK?!" Natsu's arms burst into fire as he prepared his fire dragon wing attack while Gray turned around stopping his ice make magic.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY ABOUT ME YOU BASTARD?!"

Both wizards turned slowly, both pissed off that the iron dragon slayer had insulted them in such a derogatory manner.

"SILENCE!" Erza requipped into her heaven's wheel armor preparing to seek justice if they did not stop fighting amongst themselves.

Lucy couldn't help herself, she burst out laughing.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at her, smiling. While there were still questions that needed to be answered, for the moment they were happy that Lucy was back where she belonged.

Lucy just could not stop herself, here they all were acting the same as she remembered from a year ago. She was sure some things may have changed but she was glad to see that the core of who they were had stayed the same. Lucy took a deep breath and analyzed everyone around her when suddenly she remembered her spirits.

Virgo. Capricorn. Loke...Her father. _Oh my god, my father! What had happened to him?_ She thought frantically. She had heard a shout from the library as she was being dragged away by Capricorn but she was not sure if that scream had come from him.

"Lucy what's wrong?" Natsu walked over to her immediately noticing that something was wrong with her.

"Lucy…" Erza requipped back into her regular armor worried now that something was going on with her friend.

Lucy stood still for a second. Images of the fight between her and her father were playing fast in her mind. Not only that, but images of his fight with Mard Geer and him sending her out of the room telling her to live. It was as if her mind were trying make sense of everything that had happened to her in the past day. Lucy began replaying the fight Mard Geer had with Loke. Loke...her father…

Lucy felt something shifting inside of her. She let go of Happy and clutched her hands to her chest dropping to her knees.

"Lucy!" Natsu jumped over Gray to stand by her.

She felt an intense pressure in her chest. The feeling was like Natsu's fire except that it was slowly building until it reached an intensity that she couldn't bear. Bit by bit the pressure inside of her chest rose until she could no longer contain it. "What…is…happening-"

Lucy whimpered collapsing onto the ground clutching her knees to her chest.

"Lucy!" Happy flew over to her side.

"What is happening to her?" Erza looked over to Wendy hoping that the sky dragon slayer would have an answer to what was going on.

"Wendy?!" Charle looked up at her friend noticing that she seemed frozen to her spot. "Snap out of it! Check if you can tell what is going on?!" Charle pushed Wendy over to Lucy.

Natsu wasted no time. He fell on his knees and grabbed Lucy. The only thought going through his mind was that she was going to disappear again. _You are NOT going anywhere._ He thought. No matter what happened no one was going to take her away again, he would not allow that to happen.

The rest of the mages crowded around Natsu and Lucy, concern for her clear on everyone's faces.

Suddenly, from her position against Natsu's chest, Lucy let out an agonized scream and felt herself fade into darkness.

Lucy slumped against his chest.

Wendy guided Natsu over to Lucy's bed and had him sit down. She knew there was no convincing the fire dragon slayer to release her. Wendy took a deep breath, feeling her magical power washing over Lucy as she placed her hands over her. Everyone in the room waited with baited breath while Wendy chanted over Lucy.

Wendy stopped cold.

Gajeel looked over at Wendy, knowing that look on her face. "Wendy…what's wrong with her?" It was the very same look she gave when something was going on that was beyond her.

"I'm not sure..." Wendy looked at Natsu. "I don't believe anything is seriously wrong with her."

"Nothing seriously wrong with her?! But she…"

"Natsu, let Wendy finish talking." Happy stopped his friend before he flew into a rage.

Wendy took a second forming her words carefully. "I believe she must have experienced the return of her internal magical power."

"Her internal magical power? Natsu looked at Wendy as confused as ever. "But why would that cause her to pass out?"

"Well, maybe because she was in Edolas and she did not have access to her magic…" Wendy began to tell the group.

"I see" Gray said walking over to where Natsu was holding Lucy, "her magic must have just come back. I would imagine that after a year and a half of her power lying dormant it must have been too much to handle all at once."

Happy nodded, "that and the fact that she looks exhausted".

"I am not able to heal this" Wendy looked over at Natsu, "I think its best Natsu-san if we bring her to the guild so that Porlyusica can use her knowledge of the healing arts to help Lucy."

"Okay, so what are we standing around here for? Let's go!" Natsu stood up holding the unconscious Lucy close to him. He could not stand to see her like this, especially not after seeing her look so happy to be back home smiling at their stupid antics.

* * *

Lucy felt herself coming in and out of consciousness. She her familiar voices in the background.

"GET OUT! I CANNOT STAND YOU VILE CREATURES!" Porlysucia waved a broom at Natsu and Happy. "SHE WILL BE FINE! SHE JUST NEEDS REST!"

"But Oba-san! I just want to make sure-"

"I DON'T CARE! YOU ARE A VOLATILE YOUNG MAN!" Porlysucia took a deep breath trying to calm herself. "She will be fine, she just needs some breathing room for right now."

"Natsu."

"Huh?" Natsu looked over at Levy who had managed to sneak away from everyone to visit Lucy.

"How is she?"

"I think she is fine Levy," Happy answered before Natsu had the chance to, "It's just that Porlysucia wants us out because she hates humans."

Levy smiled, knowing full well how the healer was. To this day she still didn't understand how Porlysucia tolerated being in the Master's presence but now was not the time to be thinking about that.

"Natsu, I wanted to ask you a favor. Could I stay with Lu-chan and be the one to tell her everything that is going on? She must be so confused." Levy looked over at Lucy who appeared to be waking up. Her heart went out to her friend.

"What do you mean confused?" Natsu scratched his head wondering what the hell Levy was talking about.

Levy just looked at Natsu, _Man Gajeel wasn't kidding,_ Levy thought, _now it makes sense why Natsu hasn't figured out his feeling towards her… Thank God Gajeel wasn't that dense_. Levy smiled at Natsu, honestly she felt bad for her best friend but that was a matter for another day. She knew that Lucy was going to want answers and Natsu was not going to be able to give her the answers she wanted.

"I just want to talk to her about why her memory has been so messed up and explain what happened to her mother over a year ago"

"Oh…" Natsu looked over at Lucy's sleeping form. He could tell that she was slowly waking up. Maybe Levy was right. Maybe it was better that she heard everything from her. Apparently, everyone knew just how much he could mess up explanations. Natsu sighed.

"Natsu." Happy grabbed at Natsu's waistcoat. "Let's leave Lucy with Levy, we will know when she wakes up and it's probably a good thing for her to have some 'girl talk' time."

At the mention of girl talk Natsu cringed. "Okay let's go then Happy."

Natsu turned around walking back over to Levy with something in his hand. Levy recognized the celestial spirit mages pouch.

"Loke showed up after we brought Lucy up here. He said something about not being able to stay long since her spirits had to replenish their magical power in the celestial world." Natsu blushed looking over at Lucy, "I know she will feel better knowing that Loke is okay and having her keys with her."

"Yea!" Happy just glanced at Natsu, everyone at the guild made fun of him for constantly wrecking things and being forgetful but when it mattered Natsu knew exactly the right thing to say. "Loke also said that he and the other spirits were okay and he would come see her and explain what happened once she was feeling better!"

Natsu smiled. "Tell her we will come see her when you're done Levy!"

Natsu waved and with that they were gone. Levy looked over at the closed door smiling to herself. They hadn't even waited for her to respond. They just trusted that Levy would take care of things with Lucy. She turned to Porlysucia.

"Is it okay if I sit by her for a while until she wakes up?"

Porlysucia looked at the petite blue headed girl. "I guess," she sighed "I am going to head out for some fresh herbs to mix into a draught for her. She should be waking up soon, be sure not to over-excite her!"

Levy agreed and sat next to Lucy looking at her sleeping.

Levy kept replaying everything over and over in her mind. As soon as Natsu and the others had arrived in the guild everyone had begun to fawn over the unconscious Lucy, that is until the Master grew to an impressionable size and glowered at them to allow Natsu to take Lucy to the healer. He also threatened no one to go near the room until Porlysucia had given everyone the okay to visit. Once Natsu, Happy and Lucy had left the hall everyone had started arguing over who should be the one to tell Lucy what was going on.

Cana had said over her latest drink that Lucy could handle whatever and everyone needed to stop being such babies and give her the information all at once. Levy just shook her head; Cana was so much more like her father than she thought. Cana's words reminded Levy of Gildarts' occasional oblivious attitude.

Gajeel had simply looked at Levy.

********* Flashback***********

"Oi, Shrimp?"

"Hmm?" Levy leaned closer to Gajeel attempting to hear him over the noise of the other guild members.

"Everyone's over here debating how to tell Lucy the news of what happened to her mother and everything else but it seems to me that you would be the best person to tell her."

Levy looked incredulously at him. "But…she was really close to Natsu and Happy…maybe they should be the ones to tell her?"

Levy rubbed her hands together, a habit she had picked up when she was nervous, something Gajeel was very aware of.

"Oh, so you're trusting Salamander and his cat to be sensitive and actually answer her questions?" He looked at her as if she had lost her mind.

Gajeel leaned back a little looking down at the solid script mage. "I mean…don't get me wrong I trust that Happy will remember what to say, but Salamander…"

 _He's right!_ While Natsu is amazing at so many things, being able to express himself when put into a tight spot was definitely not something that he was the best at.

"You're right Gajeel!" She beamed a wide smile at him, happy at the boost his words just gave her. Levy looked away from Gajeel blushing, he was much more perceptive than people thought. She just wished Gajeel would let others see it every now and then.

Gajeel place his hand over Levy's head and smiled at her. "Alright Short-stuff so go fight for your place by your friend's side"

*********** end of flashback **************************

Lucy felt her body slowly awakening.

"Lu-chan?"

That voice? Lucy opened her eyes slowly taking in her surroundings. It seemed that she was in one of the rooms of the guild on the second floor. She focused her eyes on the small blue haired solid script mage to the right of her.

"Levy-chan?" Lucy felt very groggy still. She placed her left hand on her temples rubbing at the headache that was starting to form there. So much had happened in such a short amount of time and she knew it was not over yet.

Levy grabbed Lucy's right hand which was still lying by her side. "I am so glad you are awake." As Levy spoke Lucy started noticing that tears were beginning to form in the solid script mage's eyes. "I am so happy you are back." Levy hung her head, ashamed that she had forgotten her best friend so easily. "Lu-chan I'm so sorry about everything and that we weren't there for you when you needed us."

"Levy-chan stop it!" Lucy placed her left hand over Levy's and squeezed lightly, "I had forgotten too so please do not feel bad, if anything I should have remembered sooner than I did."

Levy just smiled. Well here goes nothing. _It's best to just rip it off like a bandage_.

"Lucy. I'm sure you're confused with everything that is going on."

"Well, honestly yes," Lucy replied sitting up on the bed, "I'm also surprised that Natsu and Happy aren't here." Lucy looked around for the pair.

"I actually kicked them out so that I could have some alone time with you."

"Oh? You did?" Lucy smiled, "It's probably for the best as Natsu and Happy aren't the best at explaining things."

Levy sighed. _Where to start?_

"Oh wait before I begin I wanted to give you something." Levy grabbed Lucy's pouch from the table and handed the keys back to her, "Natsu and Happy gave them to me before they went downstairs."

"My…keys…" Lucy took the pouch from Levy, placing them against her chest.

"Natsu told me that Loke showed up here while you were still unconscious to give Natsu your pouch."

"Loke did!" Lucy smiled through the tears that had begun to form in her eyes.

"Loke told Natsu that the celestial spirits were recovering their magic in the celestial world and that he would come back once you had recovered to properly explain. He just came quickly so that you would not worry."

Levy smiled at her friend who was holding the keys as if they were the most precious thing in the world; and she knew that to Lucy her spirits were exactly that.

Loke was safe! Her spirits were safe, Lucy was ecstatic at the good news but she couldn't help but wonder what had happened to her father. Lucy wiped the tears from her eyes, she would have to get those answers from Loke.

"Thank you so much Levy! I feel so much better having them by my side." Lucy looked at the pouch that she was holding in her hands…her right hand! Lucy starting tracing the familiar pink guild mark that was once again on her right hand. It had been such a long time since she had seen this mark that meant so much to her.

"Oh yea!" Levy said after noticing what Lucy was doing, "Mirajane came up here for a bit once Natsu mentioned something about you not having your guild mark anymore. He was upset because he knew how excited you were when you first got it. I'm guessing they removed it before you went to Edolas."

"You're right. It would have created more questions if the guild mark was still on me." Lucy smiled, secretly happy about the fact that Natsu thought of something like that. She now remembered that day like it was yesterday. The first time she showed him her mark.

"Okay Levy-chan you can just start telling me what happened." Lucy implored. "If I have any questions I will wait until the end."

 _Sounds simple enough._ Levy agreed. "Okay. So I guess I will start from the beginning."

Lucy listened intently as Levy explained to her how her parents had received a letter from Igneel saying that Lucy was in danger. Levy told Lucy that the letter had arrived sometime after the Tartaros incident. Lucy listened as Levy told her how her parents had made the decision that she would be in danger if she stayed in Earthland since apparently she was a threat to Acnologia, Zeref and E.N.D.

Lucy looked confused for a minute so Levy stopped her explanation.

"It just does not make sense to me that I would be a danger to them. Natsu, Erza, Gray and a bunch of other Fairy Tail wizards are much more dangerous than I am."

"Well Lu-chan it seems you have an innate magical ability that has yet to be released and Igneel knew about it."

Lucy thought it over for a second. "If that is really the case then I understand why my parents would have wanted me to leave, especially considering what happened with Igneel." Lucy remembered the horror of seeing Acnologia brutally murder Natsu's father.

Levy continued explaining to Lucy that once her parents had reached that decision they would have Mest wipe her memory and everyone who knew about her. Lucy guessed such a powerful spell worked because Mavis was adding to her memory magic. Levy agreed.

Lucy was glad to hear that the Master did not agree with the decision because if she had a say at the time she would have agreed with the Master. She was not one to run away from a fight anymore. Levy continued on to tell her that he could not go against her parents' wishes. Which is why he went along with the plan.

"Wait Levy." Lucy stopped her for a minute. Something about all of this was bugging her. While she understood the reasons for why those decisions were made there was something that was not making any sense. Lucy remembered both of her parents being in Edolas so how could she could not remember her mother passing. Now that pieces of her memory were returning how come that memory still remained excluded? "Everything makes sense. Even if I don't agree with it, I get it. But I don't get one thing…"

"There are still pieces of my memory that haven't come back to me and one of those is my memories with my mother. I remember her coming with us to Edolas. Do you know why my memory of her is still missing? Is it because of Mest? Because it seems everyone else's memories are intact but mine aren't yet."

Levy looked at Lucy. Here was the hard part, explaining to Lucy how her mother had died protecting her.

"Lucy. I know that it is not going to be easy hearing this." She forged ahead determined to get everything out, "Your mother died here in Fiore protecting you."

Levy did not even notice that Lucy had stopped breathing.

"When you arrived to your parents' home they drugged your tea determined to get you to Edolas without a fight. However, your parents' did not know that Mard Geer was still alive and that he knew of this innate ability that you possess." Levy struggled trying to figure out how to finish the rest.

Lucy couldn't think, she couldn't breathe.

"He appeared in your house at that moment when you were starting to feel the effects of the tea. He arrived before Mest, Mavis, and the Master could make it…" She grabbed Lucy by the hand then, clearing her throat of the lump that had begun to form there as she looked at the shock on her best friend's face.

"Mard Geer was going to kill you and in that moment, your mother used the last of her magical strength as a celestial wizard to shield you. She died in the process…"

Levy waited. She wanted to give Lucy time to process everything she had said.

"But…Levy…" Lucy finally said after several minutes had passed. "I remember my mother being in Edolas!" Lucy bolted from the bed and started pacing back and forth. "I remember her trying to find some magical item that I could use. I remember her holding me when I was depressed that the lacrimas would not work for me."

"I HAVE ALL OF THESE MEMORIES WITH HER!" Lucy said in a thick voice as tears freely fell from her face. Her mother was never there? It was all an implanted memory?

Her mother had really died protecting her? HER MOTHER HAD BEEN KILLED BECAUSE OF HER!?

Lucy turned and looked at Levy, falling to her knees in the process. "Levy…my mother died because of me?"

Levy's heart broke at hearing her best friend's words. She ran over to the fallen mage embracing her in a tight hug. "Lucy, there are so many things I want to say." Levy was crying at this point not even caring because it hurt her to see her friend in pain, "I could tell you that your mother died because she loved you, that your mother only wanted the best for you…but…"

Levy held Lucy back so she could look into her eyes, "But-" Levy said with steel slipping into her voice, "But the truth is that bastard Mard Geer has caused all of this. There is nothing I can say to make that go away." Levy hugged Lucy again.

"The only thing I can say is that we will find him, and we will make him pay for every ounce of pain that he has caused you." Levy held Lucy back again.

"Lu-chan, you are my best friend and the fact that I- no that we, could not be there for you during this time is the worst. But I want you to know that YOU ARE NOT ALONE." She looked deeply into Lucy's eyes to emphasize this.

"This feeling of pain is not something that any of us can take away, but I can say that we will do whatever it takes to avenge what has happened to you because you are our family!"

Lucy looked at Levy's tear filled eyes and could feel the sincerity behind the solid script mages words. Lucy was still trying to wrap her mind around everything that Levy had told her. It didn't help that she still could not remember what had happened that night. Levy had told her that Mest's magic had vanished so she did not know what was causing the gaps in her memory.

Lucy grabbed Levy to her, hugging her fiercely. Levy was one of her best friends and she was so grateful to have her back. To have Levy here for her when she needed it most. Lucy stood up slowly lifting Levy with her.

Levy stared at Lucy as she wiped her tears.

"I still can't remember what happened Levy." She looked outside of the window of the guild as she spoke. "All I know is that no matter what is going on with my memory, I will avenge my mother's death."

Lucy's thoughts were in a whirl, she needed time to think and breathe normally again. She made the decision that once she finished this conversation with Levy she would do just that. She would give herself the time to break down and really soak in everything but for now she needed to have the remainder of her questions answered.

Levy stared at the faint glow that emanated from Lucy as she said those words. Levy could sense the resolve behind what Lucy was saying and knew that Lucy would get the justice that she needed.

Lucy turned, "Levy, there is something else that that has been bothering me?"

Levy looked at her questioningly.

"How did Mard Geer survive? I saw Zeref destroy his book so how was he not killed…?"

* * *

 ** _A/N dun dun dun NEXT TIME ON THE LIGHT WITHIN THE FLAME ^.^…hehe I guess Lucy will get her question answered next week ._**

 ** _I wanted to give a shout out to AnnaYasashii for showing me so much Love on the reviews! Lucy is finally getting some answers! ;)_**

 _**As always thank you to everyone who is currently reading my story! SO EXCITED THAT IT HAS over 1,588 views, 24 followers, 4 reviews and 14 favorites! I am so grateful to each and every one of you! Ahhhh!**_

 ** _Also! I am thinking of updating the story once a week instead of twice a week but I'm not sure. Drop me a review and lemme know what you think!? Comments, suggestions or constructive criticism are welcome! Remember I am clearly changing events from where they occurred in the manga while still keeping some things the same._**

 ** _Until next time guys!_**

 ** _*arigatou gozaimasu* ^.^_**


	9. Chapter 9

_**Allo! Back at it Again! I did decide to only post one chapter a week as my crazy work schedule is making me take a break so I want to catch up and get a couple of chapters ahead.**_

 _ **However, I WILL STILL POST BY SUNDAY!**_

 _ **I DO NOT OWN FAIRY TAIL or the characters that I am basically in love with, le sigh.**_

 _ **PROCEED WITH CAUTION: CHAPTERS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FROM THE ANIME/MANGA FROM TARTAROS ARC FORWARD!**_

 _ **For those that celebrate Halloween, I hope you have a great and safe one! I love Halloween so I will be dressing up tomorrow as modern day Ariel from the little mermaid ;) But anyway onward to the story!**_

 _ **ENJOY GUYS!**_

* * *

~~~~~~~Chapter 9 ~~~~~~~

Lucy watched Levy as various emotions flitted across her extremely expressive face. Levy went from worried, to confused to thoughtful within a couple of quick seconds. It was one of the things Lucy loved about her friend. Once you gave her a puzzle she worked tirelessly to figure out the answer.

"Honestly, in all of the mess after Tartaros, we never did put much thought into how he came back." Levy cocked her head to the side, " I didn't even know he was alive until the memory spell had been lifted. Perhaps the master has more information seeing as how he was in contact with your parents before everything happened."

Levy looked at Lucy apologetically, "I'm sorry Lu-chan…we were kind of kept in the dark."

"It's okay Levy-chan, you know that feeling when you have a word on the tip of your tongue but can't remember what the word is?"

"Yea!" Levy momentarily looked frustrated, "I hate it when that happens."

"Well, that's exactly how I feel right now. I feel like I have the answer as to why he didn't die," Lucy walked back over to the bed sitting down. She placed her hands on her head and took a deep breath.

"Lu-chan…" Levy replied cautiously, hating to see her friend in such obvious pain. She wondered if there was something she could do for her?

"Levy," Lucy smiled over at the solid script mage, "It's okay really, I'll be fine. It's just so much information and the fact that I can't remember everything is bothering me."

Levy understood just because she wasn't in the same position as Lucy the fact that her memories had been wiped also made her furious. So she could only imagine how Lucy must be feeling after finding out everything.

"Could you do me a favor?"

Levy snapped out of her thoughts, "Of course Lu-chan! What do you need?"

Lucy stood up knowing she didn't have much time before someone else decided to come up and see her.

"Could you give me some alone time?" Seeing Levy's face Lucy quickly hurried, "It's just that with so much information I really need some time alone to process all of this. I also have a feeling that everyone that's downstairs is not going to give me much space for some time with everything going on."

Lucy could already envision being followed everywhere to make sure Mard Geer didn't strike her dead.

She sighed, "I appreciate everyone's worry and I am so glad that I was able to have this moment with you Levy-chan it's just… that I need…"

"Of course Lu-chan!" Levy enveloped her friend in a fierce hug, "You don't have to continue to explain yourself. I will give you some space and let the others know not to bother you for a while!"

She continued on, "I'll especially let Natsu and Happy know not to barge in here so you can have some time"

Lucy smiled at Levy, she felt bad about what she was asking for but really if she didn't try to do it now she would probably have little luck later on.

"Thank you so much Levy!" Lucy hugged her smaller friend even tighter, "I knew you would understand."

Levy released Lucy, "Don't worry Lu-chan! I'll handle things."

Lucy watched her friend close the door behind her. Lucy immediately went into action mode. She knew she did not have that much time before someone decided that they didn't care about her personal space and showed up here. As much as she loved everyone and was grateful to be back home she needed to breathe. She felt suffocated by the room that she was in, she needed air and she wanted time alone to think about everything. Levy had told her so much and she still felt that she could not believe everything…even though she knew Levy would never lie to her.

It would be more helpful if she could remember everything but she had a feeling that the reason she still had holes in her memory had nothing to do with Mest.

"Okay, time to try to sneak out of here and go back for your things!" It's a good thing the landlady had forgotten her so she had never attempted to sell or use the apartment. It seemed according to Erza that whenever she tried to go to that side of the house she would be redirected elsewhere.

"Which is great for me since I am in serious need of some clothes."

Lucy was sure that the landlady would harass her for the rent later but for now, she was taking advantage of the old lady forgetting for a while and was going to try to sneak out of the guild.

She smiled as she thought of how ridiculous she sounded. Sneak out of the guild, this was the safest place for her to be right now. She knew that and yet she knew that she needed to get out and get some air. This was the only chance she had before she would no longer be the only one deciding what would happen with her life again.

Lucy looked around trying to figure out the best way to do this, she needed to buy time but her normal tricks of putting pillows under the bed to make it look like she was sleeping would not work. Especially not with Natsu who could smell her from a mile away.

Figuring she didn't have that much time anyway she decided to just wing it. Lucy checked to make sure she had her pouch on her and walked over to the window. She was glad that the second story was not that high up and had a balcony underneath.

She smiled knowing that it would be easy to jump down and then onto the street below. She was grateful that she was facing the side where the forest was, otherwise, she might land next to someone leaving the guild or worse she would be caught leaving like a thief in the night.

Lucy checked again to make sure that no one was there and jumped to the ground below. Once on the balcony she looked around, ran over to the side and jumped again landing softly on the grass below.

"Yes!" She exclaimed, making sure she did not yell too loud. Now was not the time for celebration, time to get a move on before the others find out.

Lucy was actually pretty proud of herself. She had managed to make it to the street without anyone noticing her. She could see her apartment in the distance. This was the first stop on the journey that she felt would give her the answers that she needed. Or at least she hoped that was the case…

***(meanwhile at the guild)***

"That's it! I'm going after her!"

Gray grabbed Natsu by the back of the shirt before he could jump down to the balcony. "Hold it flame brain!"

"What gives Gray?!"

"Yea Gray!? Why are you stopping Natsu from going after Lucy?" Happy glared at the Ice devil slayer, "She could be in danger!"

"Juvia believes that her darling Gray-sama would not stop Natsu unless it was important. Juvia thinks that Lucy-san must have had a reason for sneaking out of the guild…"

"Exactly idiot! If you would stop and think for a second instead of rushing into things you would realize that we would get more information if we followed her instead of going and grabbing her."

"Oh! Gray-sama!" Juvia giggled happily hugging Gray against his back. "You agreed with Juvia!"

"Oi!...Well, of course, I'm going to agree with you when you're right. I'm not an idiot." He blushed, happy that no one could see his facial expression at the feel of Juvia pressed against his back.

Natsu rubbed his neck, pissed off at Gray for stopping him but he acknowledged that he did have a point. He could tell by her scent that she was going back to her apartment but he didn't get why she would have left without telling anyone.

"I'm so sorry guys!" Levy was crestfallen that she had let Lucy leave, even though she did understand why her friend would do something as drastic as jump out of a window to get some peace and quiet. Still, she didn't want anything happening to her.

"Don't worry, Levy." Erza walked over to the boys who were standing by the window. "We should head over to Lucy's house and wait for her. That way we could ensure that she is safe and still give her some of the privacy she needs."

"What privacy!? She should be used to us barging in by now- " Natsu stopped midsentence as Erza sent him flying into the wall by the bed with a single punch.

"Natsu…" She glared over at him, Natsu gulped deciding that staying on the floor was probably the best bet for now.

"Yes?"

"We will sneak over to Lucy's and then take it from there. I will not have you making a scene and ruining our amazing plan." Erza looked over at the door where Levy was standing thinking that she wasn't going to be able to share some of her cake with Lucy after all. The requip mage had decided that since she had forgotten her for so long that the least she could do is share her precious strawberry cake with perfectly mixed whipped cream.

It was not to be, however, because she would tag along with the boys to make sure that Lucy was safe.

"Juvia wishes she could go with you guys Gray-sama!" Looking as if she was going to burst into tears. Gray quickly said, "It's okay Juvia! I know you had already told Gajeel that you would go on a search mission with him."

"I'll let you know what happens with Lucy when I get back okay?" Gray wanted to make sure the entire room wouldn't get flooded in Juvia's tears…its not like he really needed to tell her where he was going or when he would be back or anything.

"Okay! Juvia will do her best! Give my regards to Lucy!" Juvia hugged Gray one more time before heading back out and dragging Levy with her. As much as she wanted to stay with her darling Gray she knew that this was something he had to do. Lucy was their teammate and while she sometimes…okay a lot of times thought of Lucy as her love rival, she was her friend and wanted to make sure she was safe.

Gray and the rest of them would make sure that nothing happened, she was sure of it. Besides she needed to go deposit Levy over to Gajeel so he could shake some sense into the solid script mage. It's not her fault that this happened after all.

**** At her apartment ****

Lucy looked around her room. She couldn't believe it had worked, no one from the guild had noticed that she was gone. She should be feeling proud of her accomplishment but instead, all she felt was a deep void in her heart. Lucy looked around at the second home which had meant so much to her. Her apartment had signified her independence from her parents. It was slowly coming back to her the longer she was in her place.

She smiled remembering the fight she had with her father when she said she wanted to leave to train as a wizard. Her mother had been all for the idea, but her father had been stuck on the image of what a proper lady was. In the end, her mother had allowed her to spread her wings and find a place that would nourish her and her magic. A place where Lucy could be Lucy and not a Heartfilia. Little did she know that in Hargeon while shopping for more celestial keys she would stumble upon a quick-tempered fire dragon slayer.

Lucy realized now that the dreams she had been having about a younger Happy and Natsu were simply her memories trying to resurface. It wasn't that she had actually met them when they were children. Although she would have loved it if that had been the case. Lucy decided it was time to get some answers from her celestial spirits. She knew that her magical power was still not as strong as it had been before, but she couldn't just sit around here any longer.

Lucy sat Indian style on the floor. She attempted to quiet her mind, pushing aside the thoughts and images of everything that had happened today. Instead, she simply breathed. Lucy inhaled deeply feeling the Ethernano which Earthland was filled with overwhelming her system. She focused her body on absorbing as much as possible to attempt to contact her spirits. Lucy could feel it building inside of her, it was no longer painful instead the feeling was familiar and made her happy. She felt as if she was no longer empty inside.

Lucy's focus was broken by the sound of a crash permeated the room.

She turned around only to see Natsu sprawled next to her bed and Happy flying over next to him.

"Natsu…Happy…how did-"

"We're sorry Lucy! Erza and Gray tried to stop him from breaking into your room but you know how he can get sometimes." Happy walked over to Lucy happily munching on a fish he had pulled out of his bag.

"Once we felt the surge of magical power in the room he bolted thinking that maybe you had gone back to Edolas."

"Oh." Lucy looked over at Natsu who was looking away from her as Happy spoke

"Oi! That wasn't it! I just wanted to make sure that she was okay!"

"Sure that's what it was..."

"Gray!" Lucy stood up from her position on the floor. She had given up (after the arrival of Natsu) on trying to meditate any longer.

"Hello, Lucy."

"Erza…I'm…"

"It's okay." She stopped her before she could start explaining herself. "It must be confusing for you after having been alone this past year. I am not surprised that you wanted to try to have some time away. But Lucy, you cannot forget that Mard Geer is still out there and still wants to kill you."

Erza was right, what had she been thinking?! Lucy walked over to Natsu and sat down again on the floor. She had been so caught up in everything going on she didn't even consider the fact that Mard Geer could have shown up here. Especially since her magical power was currently on the fritz.

"You're right Erza." Lucy spoke solemnly, "I really am sorry if I made you guys worry. It was a dumb decision."

"It's okay Lucy!" Happy said around his fish…seriously when was he going to finish that thing?!

"It's not like we aren't used to you doing dumb things..."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY CAT!?"

Lucy went to swing at him only to have him laugh and fly out of reach…the little brat.

"Lucy?"

Lucy turned to look at Natsu. She was not used to him speaking so quietly.

"What made you decide to come back here?"

"Yea?" Gray chimed in from his spot on one of her chairs. He and Erza had made themselves comfortable and by comfortable, she meant that Gray was already in his underwear.

"Gray…your clothes." Lucy shook her head remembering his need to strip occasionally.

"UGH! I swear!"

"Freaking perverted stripper."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY FLAME BRAIN?!"

"WANNA FIGHT, BASTARD?!"

Not in my apartment please, Lucy prayed to the Gods that her apartment was spared from the wreckage, but she was not stupid enough to try to get into the middle of that.

Erza had enough. She walked over to the two boys and grabbed them by their heads. She wanted answers from Lucy and this fighting would not help the situation. She rammed their heads together and after hearing the satisfying noise it made, went to sit back down.

"Scary!" Happy said flying back over to land in Lucy's lap, a safe distance from the requip mage.

"Tell me about it…" Lucy whispered also not foolish enough to piss Erza off.

Now that the boys were calm…or dead, (she wasn't sure which) she continued her story.

"Well, I decided that I needed to go to my parent's house and since I don't have any clothes it seemed that this would be the best place to start since all of my clothes are still here."

"Why do you wanna go back to your parent's house?" Natsu woke from his stupor and carefully walked over to Lucy, best to stay over here for now he mused.

"When Levy told me everything that had happened a part of me still couldn't accept it. Not because I thought she was lying but because there are still things I don't remember."

"So then Mest's magic didn't wear off on you like it did us?" Gray wondered out loud.

"No, I don't think that's the case. You see once his spell was broken I was able to remember everything. I remember my real childhood, I remember leaving my parents house and joining Fairy Tail. I remember our battle with Tartaros." Lucy looked away, talking about all of this was bringing back painful memories but she pushed on.

"The only thing I can't remember is the night I was taken to Edolas. Basically, I don't remember what happened the night of my mother's death. I believe that the reason my memory is blocked is because of something that has to do with my mother's magic. I think I will be able to find the answers I need at their house."

Erza sat quietly, absorbing all of the information that she was given. Lucy was right, it did not make sense why she would remember everything but not remember that night. It seemed like the only way to find out would be to escort Lucy back home.

"Okay, Lucy." She stood up knowing that time was of the essence. They did not know how long it would take for Mard Geer to get back to Earthland but they sure as hell were not going to wait around with their arms crossed.

"You believe me?"

"Of course Lucy! I mean…" Natsu scratched his head, " I really don't know what's going on but if you say that you have a feeling that your answers are at your house then that's where we will go!"

"Aye, Sir! He's right Lucy. You shouldn't doubt yourself, there must be a reason why you're getting this feeling." He said looking up at Lucy from the safety of her lap.

"Alright then, it's settled!" Erza walked over to where Gray was sitting and grabbed the shirtless ice devil slayer by the arm. "Gray you go make the preparations and we will set out immediately, Happy you are in charge of provisions, Natsu you will help Lucy get what she needs and once everything is ready we will leave."

"Sure no problem Erza, I'll have the carriage here as soon as possible," Gray smirked looking directly at Natsu as he ran out the door.

"Um…that's okay…I don't need transportation Happy can fly me there."

"No way! I want to be comfortable since it's a long ride there." Happy exclaimed already thinking about being able to relax and not use his Aera magic to fly around.

"But…" Natsu was already turning a putrid shade of green as he thought about the three hours (maybe longer) carriage ride that awaited him.

Lucy stood up slowly. She may have wanted to go to her parent's estate alone, but she now knew that that had been a mistake. She was no longer alone and she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that as long as she had the strength of her friends she could do anything. They would do anything that was needed, and together they would find out what was blocking her remaining memory of that dreaded night long ago.

* * *

 _ **A/N: I was planning on having this chapter show Team Natsu arrive at Lucy's estate but alas, it would have been over 15 pages and that was too much so I decided to split it up!**_

 _ **I hope you guys have enjoyed the ride with me! I will be having some major fluff chapters coming in soon! It has been lots of information these couple of chapters so bear with me! I hope you guys are enjoying it!**_

 _ **I always love to give shout outs and thank you to those who have read or are still reading my story! I am pretty freaking happy that it has over 2,000 views, 28 followers, 15 favorites and 5 reviews! It is the best feeling ever when anyone acknowledges your work! YOU GUYS ARE WHAT KEEPS THIS GOING!...you know that and sometimes the characters are screaming in my head for me to write the next chapter hehe**_

 _ **I am super excited to announce that my cousin who is an amazing artist is doing the cover for this story! I already saw the base and it's amazing! UGH SO NALU! I cannot wait to share it with everyone!**_

 _ **Until next time guys!**_

 _ ***Arigatou Gozaimasu* ^.^**_


	10. Chapter 10

_**Hello, Everyone! Happy Sunday! ^.^**_

 _ ***Clears throat* I DO NOT OWN FAIRY TAIL or all its lovelies!**_

 _ **PROCEED WITH CAUTION: CHAPTERS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FROM THE ANIME/MANGA FROM TARTAROS ARC FORWARD!**_

 _ **READ WITH CAUTION: There may be some material ahead that some would consider a little heavy I wasn't sure if I should change the rating but there is a scene involving death that some may be bothered by. I just wanted to give you guys a heads up.**_

 _ **I am changing events from the manga/anime to suit the story as this is an AU (even though a lot is the same hehe)**_

 _ **With that said on to the chapter!**_

* * *

~~~~~~~~ Chapter 10 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Natsuuuuuuu!" Lucy grunted as she hoisted the bag of dead weight that was Natsu, further up her shoulder. "Come on snap out of it already!"

"It's no use Lucy you know it takes a while before Natsu remembers that he's back on solid ground and feels better again." Happy replied flying by her to join Erza and Gray who were opening up the gates to her old estate.

"I know! I just didn't expect it to take so long!" Lucy kept her face looking frustrated but truly she was just disturbed by how warm the Fire dragon slayer felt against her back. _It's kinda freaking me out a bit because this feels really good-OMG WHAT AM I THINKING!_

"Ugh…" groaned Natsu falling on the ground abruptly. "Lucy, what did you do that for!"

"Sorry! I didn't mean to drop you..."

"Lucy…you were kinda giving Natsu a funny face before you basically dropped him on the floor like a sack of potatoes."

"You damn nosy cat! Why don't you go see what's taking Gray and Erza so long and stop paying attention to my face! It's just hot and he's heavy." Lucy blushed trying to get the thought of the feeling of Natsu out of her mind.

"Surrreeee Lucy..." Happy laughed and winked before deciding to leave her alone about it for now.

Lucy knelt down next to Natsu, "I'm sorry I dropped you…I didn't mean to. Are you feeling better?"

Natsu tried to calm his stomach down. Dammit, he was the all-powerful son of Igneel and those damn devils of transportation still laid him out whenever he rode on one. He tried focusing on the ground, the cold not moving ground.

"Okay!" Natsu jumped up, suddenly feeling just fine. It was funny that once his body realized that the floor was no longer going to move he was free from that freaking curse. "Let's go, Lucy!" Natsu grabbed her hand before she could say anything and ran after Gray and Erza who were already inside.

Lucy let Natsu pull her around for a while, honestly she was really nervous to be here again. She wasn't sure why, but she felt a sense of dread fall over her the moment they stepped in front of her parent's home.

Lucy looked over at her family home. The once clean grounds were littered with leaves and the estate looked like it hadn't seen the hands of a worker in over a year. Lucy sighed, _I can only imagine what it looks like on the inside._

Thinking about that made her feel unsure, maybe I should buy some more time outside.

"Come on Lucy! Let's go!" Natsu waved her over from the door.

"Hey, Flame Brain! Leave Lucy outside for a bit, it's been awhile since she has been here maybe she wants to take a look around!" Gray sneered behind Natsu. He had already seen the mess the estate was in and wanted to check with Erza on the damages before Lucy came inside. Erza had told him to keep her out for a little while and he didn't want to piss off Erza today. She was in a pretty shitty mood and kept muttering something about cake and Lucy…go figure.

Natsu looked over at Lucy. While he knew that everyone labeled him as extremely dense _(and I admit sometimes I am)_ there are other times when he was not. Natsu could see that Lucy was struggling with coming inside of the house and Gray was providing her the perfect opportunity to escape. Well, he decided he wouldn't try to force her to face her demons just yet and he sure as hell was not going to leave her out there alone.

"Happy go inside with Gray and Erza and check the rooms in the house, if anything is in really bad condition see if you guys can't do anything about it. I'm gonna stay out here with Lucy."

"Aye, sir! You can count on me!" And with that, the blue exceed was gone.

"Oh…since when are you so considerate?"

"SHUT UP YOU DAMN SLANTY EYED FREAK!" He took a breath, _now was not the time for a fight_ , _I can break his face later_. "Don't you see it, Gray? She looks scared."

Gray looked over at Lucy who had nodded when he had told her to stay outside. Lucy was pacing and looked strangely…lost. She looked like what he imagined he looked like when his father had been killed.

"Yea I see it…Anyway, you should go, we will be done quickly." He turned around and closed the door behind him. Gray sensed that whatever Lucy was going to remember…it was not going to be good.

Natsu walked over to the now forgotten garden area where Lucy was sitting.

"You know Natsu, I'm not afraid."

Natsu stopped in his tracks. _She wasn't afraid?_ How dense did she think he was to believe that bold faced lie?

"Luce-"

"No please. You don't have to coddle me. I know that I have had weak moments in the past but now isn't one of them. Yes, it's hard for me to see all of this. To see the home that I grew up in with my parents so forgotten."

Lucy looked up at Natsu, _is he concerned?_ Lucy looked into those onyx eyes and saw nothing but compassion on his face. _It's like he can tell I'm holding something back…but how? It's been a year since we've seen each other._

Natsu sat down next to Lucy and placed his hand over hers. Her hands were cold from the breeze of the day. Now that the sun was setting there was a distinctive chill in the air. Instinctively he warmed his hands to drive away the cold from hers.

Lucy swallowed a gasp, _I feel so warm_.

"Natsu!" Lucy pulled away from him and stood up. Her heart was pounding wildly. What has gotten into me?! They had been friends for so long. Why is it that whenever he did something seemingly sweet like holding her when she was crying, making her laugh when she felt sad, staying with her when she couldn't stand to be alone, she could not keep her heart from racing?

"Sorry, Luce!" Natsu said jumping up as if he had been struck by a bolt of lightening. _What the hell am I doing? I mean Lucy is my partner…but why does it feel so right to sit her by her…she smells so nice… WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME!?_

"Natsu are you okay?" Lucy looked over at him, her questions over her pounding heart forgotten.

"Um…yea…sure…why do you ask?"

"Well… you're kinda on fire…"

"Oh, Shit!" Natsu turned off the flames that had spread over his body at the realization that he was smelling Lucy. _I don't have time to be acting weird around Lucy…not now._

"Um…sometimes that happens when I'm deep in thought." He said quickly coming up with the first thing that popped into his head.

"Oh, yea.," Lucy smirked, I mean he walked right into that one. "It must take that much brain power for you to think then huh?"

"Hey!"

Lucy burst out laughing, there he went making her feel better again. "Thanks for that Natsu. Okay, let's go inside. It's about time I face whatever is going on."

"Happy's right, you sure are a weirdo Lucy."

"That damn cat! When did he say I was weird?!"

Natsu just smiled as they walked over inside of the house.

**** A couple of hours later *******

Lucy just sighed as the four mages sat around the now roaring fire in one of the parlor rooms with Happy curled on her lap asleep.

"Thank you guys for making the place look better than what I'm sure it looked like when you first came in. And thank you guys for letting me stay outside for a little while."

"Of course Lucy, Natsu didn't do anything to annoy you right?"

"Hey! I'm right here you know!"

Erza simply ignored him and waited for Lucy to answer. "Nope, not at all."

"Oh…that's a first," Gray replied half asleep by the fire. Apparently, all that cleaning had wiped out the ice devil. Erza can be a slave driver when she wanted to be.

Before Natsu could do his usual response to Gray Erza interrupted him, "Anyway do you think maybe we should explore other areas of the house again? Perhaps your memories will be triggered this time?"

"I dunno it seems like a storm is coming in. Since we just ate maybe we should call it a night and try again in the morning? I still have not been able to use my magic power so maybe I just need some more rest."

"I think you are right Lucy, besides those three are already asleep so let's call it a night for now," Erza responded requipping into her pajamas.

Lucy placed Happy next to her on the blanket she had found. "You know something Erza? This feels nice. Having us all together again."

Erza walked over to Lucy and smiled before embracing her. "I could not agree more. Alright, Let's get some sleep."

Lucy nodded as she curled up with Happy on her side and Natsu lying not that far behind her. She could reach out and touch him he was so close…not that she would, but it was nice knowing he was near.

...

Lucy woke to the sound of lightening crashing through the sky. She felt like she was in a daze. It was almost as if she saw herself from the outside. Lucy felt this burning desire to leave the room she was in. She started to get up not noticing if anyone woke up and slowly walked out of the room.

Natsu woke instantly when Lucy woke up. He noticed that she wasn't really awake it was like she was sleepwalking or something.

"Oi Natsu, I know you're awake. Go after her, Erza and I will stay here with Happy." Gray was not a heavy sleeper either and the sound of Lucy shifting had woken him up.

"Yes Go Natsu." Erza had recognized that something like this could happen. She believed that whatever Lucy was holding onto was buried deep within her unconscious and Erza had wondered if sleeping would cause her to regain her memories.

She and Gray had decided that Natsu would be the one to go with Lucy, those two had her tired with all of the evasive feelings. She strongly suspected that Lucy cared for Natsu more than she was willing to admit and Natsu…well she felt that he had been acting a little strange and it was about time to see if her hunch was right. Mirajane had mentioned it to her back at the guild when Natsu smelled that Lucy was gone from downstairs. Erza had promised the takeover mage that she would give the two as much "alone time" as she could. Hopefully, they don't need to be knocked over the head to really see how they feel about each other.

Natsu nodded at the pair and followed Lucy. She looked so strange, almost as if she was a zombie. _Where the hell is she going?_

Lucy felt compelled, there really was no other way to describe it. Something was telling her to go to the library, while another part of her was becoming terrified with every step she took. The winds crashed against the building and the rain pelted against the window. There was a massive lightning storm happening on the outside but it also felt as if one was happening inside of her head. Lucy opened the doors to the library and walked inside. Immediately she was placed in a scene that was happening in the room.

*******Flashback*********

"Jude we have to tell her what is going on. This does not feel right." Layla couldn't stand it anymore. She did not like the fact that her daughter's free will was being taken. After everything that their daughter had been through, the last thing she deserved was to have her memories wiped without any explanation.

"And we are supposed to keep this a secret?! For an indefinite amount of time?!" Layla kept pacing back and forth, furious that it had come to this. Layla rued the day that she received that letter from Igneel.

"Layla please calm down, I don't want you to get sick-"

"Sick! Forget about being sick! I made my choice long ago when I decided to help my ancestor open the eclipse gate. I am only happy that I was able to survive for this long." Layla tried to calm herself, it wouldn't do any good to continue this way especially with Lucy nearly asleep in the very far corner of the room due to the drugged tea.

"Jude." Layla implored with her husband one final time, "You know the bond she has with the mages of Fairy Tail. Do you really think this is the best way to keep her safe? You have seen how she interacts with her team and let's not forget her feelings regarding Natsu."

"Natsu…What are you saying Layla, he is simply her partner." Jude looked at Layla as if she had grown two heads. She decided men are extremely thick headed when they wanted to be. Layla regained her composure after all that is one of the qualities she was known for. Being the composed lady of Heartfilia and normally it was not difficult but this is Lucy we are talking about!

"Jude darling, Lucy has feelings for Natsu. You know, the romantic kind."

"WHAT!? My daughter does not have romantic feelings for that quick tempered destructive boy! He never thinks before he does something, Layla!"

She simply smiled at her husband, "Hmm…sounds like someone else I know…"

Jude looked affronted, hoping that she was not referring to him. "Look Layla that aside we have discussed this several times and we cannot seem to find a better option for keeping her safe. I know I can be hard headed at times, but I would not do this if it was not a last resort. Igneel dying left us no option as Mard Geer witnessed her power himself."

That was the problem Layla thought, Mard Geer had witnessed her power. Igneel had warned them that being a creation of Zeref made Zeref's demons susceptible to knowing when a large magical source was near. It allowed the demons a better chance to protect themselves and Mard Geer clearly saw that in Lucy that day.

"I'm sorry Jude, forgive me. I did not mean to act as if this decision was easy for you. I am just frustrated Lucy has to be put through this after everything…"

Jude walked over to Layla and wrapped his arms around her slender frame. She was so beautiful, intelligent and caring…so much like their daughter.

"I know Layla, we will do whatever it takes to protect her. Makarov, Mest, and Mavis should be here any minute and then the portal to Edolas will be opened. I am only doing this because I could not live in a world without you or Lucy. I love you both so much."

Layla felt her husband pressed against her back and looked up at him, she turned around in his arms to place both of her palms on his cheeks. "I know. I know that you do anything to keep us safe." Layla brought her face closer to his inhaling his rich scent. "I love you too." She said as she softly pressed her lips against his.

"Hmm…this is most unfortunate to have arrived in the midst of such a human moment."

Lucy couldn't move… _Why can't I move? He's here, I need to stop him…Why can't I make my body move?!_ It was then that Lucy realized that this wasn't just a dream, in reality she was re-living her past memory. _I'm actually re-living when my mother died and I can't do anything about it!_ Lucy tried to get her body to move, she tried to warn them to get away, that he was too powerful. But it seemed she was stuck in her own body. She could only follow the role that she had played in the past and right now she was under the influence of whatever had been in her tea.

"YOU!" Jude shoved Layla behind him. Cursing his ill-fated luck. _What was Mard Geer doing here?_ How did he know that today was the day they were going to leave? He pushed aside those questions for now. I needed to protect Layla and Lucy. He was grateful that Lucy was also behind him. Mard Geer had chosen to appear right behind the door which meant they were effectively trapped inside the library.

"How did you…?"

"How did I what my dear Heartfilia? Know that you would be planning something today? There are a lot of interesting things one can figure out if you know the right questions to ask. I simply had one of my underlings pay attention to your daughter and notice whenever she was alone…Interestingly today was the only day that she was allowed to leave her apartment alone. It seemed someone from that cursed guild always followed her around."

"We were being watched…" Layla shook her head in disbelief, they had been careless. They had believed after the battle that Mard Geer would have remained dead. She had been told that Zeref had defeated him so how was he here.

"But" Jude didn't know what to think. Mard Geer wasn't supposed to be alive? They had Lucy constantly watched as a precaution because villains had a tendency not to stay dead from what his daughter had told him. But still he would never have thought that Mard Geer would have come back so quickly.

"How am I here? How am I alive? I am sure there are plenty of questions spinning around in that brain of yours, however, I neither have the time or the desire to indulge in conversation any further. Your daughter is a threat that needs to be eliminated."

"NO! YOU CAN'T!" Jude lunged forward trying to distract Mard Geer long enough for Makarov to get here. It wasn't enough. He had moved before he even had a chance to register that it was happening. Layla saw it, her magical ability had been diminished due to her illness but she saw now that Mard Geer intended to slice her daughter with his thorns. She would not allow that to happen. Layla focused her remaining magical energy and threw herself in front of Lucy casting a bolt of light so strong from her body that it blinded Mard Geer.

Jude stood frozen…Layla was just standing behind him and now…she was standing before Lucy impaled by several of Mard Geers thorns.

"MOM!" Lucy finally regained control of her sluggish body. She had watched in slow motion when her mother had used the last of her magical energy to protect Lucy with her body. Lucy took in everything she saw. The way her mother had stopped moving, the sound of the thorns tearing through her flesh, the blood that was dripping on the floor…the blood. Lucy looked up to see her mother impaled through the chest by three of Mard Geer's thorns.

"tsk…tsk, I did not know you had such magical ability left in you Layla-" Mard Geer was cut short by Lucy's father who had screamed out in rage and lunged at Mard Geer with his sword.

"Mom…" Lucy crawled over to her mother and placed her head in her lap. "Mother please…let me get someone, you're going to be okay." Lucy couldn't stop the tears that spilled over onto her mother's body.

"Lucy." Layla gasped, looking over at her grief-stricken daughter. She did not want it to end like this but she would protect them with her last dying breath. "Lucy…please…run."

"NO! I'M NOT LEAVING YOU!"

Layla placed a hand on her daughter's cheek. "Lucy, I love you and your father more than anything…please…go."

Lucy saw her mother's hand fall, as if in slow motion again Lucy felt a weight dig deep into her chest. _This can't be happening…mom…mom…please wake up…mom._ Lucy shook Layla, "MOM!"

"No Lucy!"

Lucy turned at the sound of her father's voice to see Mard Geer rushing towards her again, hands outstretched, thorns threatening to tear into her body. A scream formed inside of her until she felt an internal dam break. Lucy screamed, all of the rage and impotence she felt combined to form a giant ray of light. That light shot out from inside her body. It was so strong she couldn't even process what she had just witnessed. The only feelings she had were grief, rage, fear, fury, and the intense need to protect her father.

Lucy didn't even notice that Mard Geer had vanished as soon as she had produced the light. She was too consumed with grief and rage to care. Her mother was gone. Her mother had been murdered in front of her eyes.

"Jude!" Makarov yelled as he ran over to Jude who he saw was slumped over the body of his dead wife. Makarov quickly took in the scene around him and saw that Lucy was in a dire state. They needed to stop her now, there was not telling what this would do to her if she kept feeding into her powers' raw state. "We must stop Lucy before her power consumes her! Jude!"

"Master! Jude is not able to do it; he is in shock." Mavis said quickly understanding what had happened. Mavis cast a bright glow from the palm of her hands. She knew the one thing that would stop Lucy in this moment. Mavis cast her illusions magic and formed Layla's smiling face. Lucy stopped, looked at the illusion of Layla and promptly fell to the floor drained of energy.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?!"

"Jude-sama I simply stopped your daughter from harming herself. I calculated that if she saw her mother alive even for a second that she would stop enough for her body to realize that it could not take any more."

"Lucy! Lucy!"

*******end of flashback******

Lucy felt herself falling backward, too exhausted to hold herself up anymore. She tensed against the pain of hitting the ground when nothing happened. Lucy looked up to see Natsu's worried face over hers.

"Don't worry Luce. I got you."

Lucy burst into horrendous sobs. Her body shook uncontrollably. She couldn't seem to form a coherent sentence. Natsu simply rocked her back and forth as she cried in his lap. They stayed this way for a long time. Natsu grew increasingly more worried as time ticked on. _What in the world had she seen?_ He had never seen Lucy like this. He knew that Lucy was quick to show emotions and would cry all the time but this time it sounded as if a piece of her soul had been torn out of her body. It sounded much like how he felt when Igneel had been killed before his very eyes.

When Lucy's tears dried up, she felt numb, and completely exhausted. She knew she was in the safest place in the world. She was in the arms of the one man who meant the world to her and for now, she could let go of everything in the world and allow the blackness to consume her.

Natsu felt Lucy's body go rigid and then relax. At first, he was deathly afraid that something else had happened to her but as he listened he could hear the sound of her breathing. She must have fallen asleep from exhaustion. Natsu picked Lucy up and adjusted her in his arms so he could carry her bridal style.

Natsu walked back into the parlor room and looked at the six pair of eyes staring back at him worriedly.

"She finally regained her memory…" He said void of all emotion. After what he had seen he felt that his emotions were locked in with Lucy's. He sat down in front of the fireplace with Lucy in his lap, not caring what the others thought, and waited for the questions the others would have.

"Natsu?" Happy walked over to his partner hating to see the pain that was etched across his face. "What happened to Lucy?"

"I…she just…"

"Let's give him a minute." Erza could see how worried Natsu was, she had never seen him this way before. It was almost like the day when Igneel had died.

Natsu took a deep breath and tried to shake the image of Lucy losing control from his mind. "She regained her memories from the night her mother was murdered, it was unreal guys, she was standing in front of me but it was like she couldn't see me."

"The entire time she was still, almost as if she was drugged until a certain moment, that's when she fell to the floor and started screaming about her mother…and saving her… after that, her voice changed and I felt this immense magical power fill the room."

"I tried to grab her but it was like something kept me from touching her, finally something must have happened in her dream and she woke up. Once she woke up she fell so I caught her and she basically cried until she passed out."

Natsu was happy he was able to get all of that out without breaking down himself.

Gray looked at the pair, he could only imagine what Lucy must have gone through. It was something that a lot of them in the guild had in common…a tragic past. He could all too clearly remember the moment he had with Juvia in the snow. Seeing Natsu with Lucy was bringing back those memories of when he broke down.

"I see," Erza said simply, knowing that sometimes the less one said the better.

"Maybe we should just give them some space and try to go back to sleep?" Happy suggested. "At least until Lucy wakes tomorrow and she can tell us what happened."

"I agree with Happy, Natsu maybe you should put Lucy-" "She isn't going anywhere!" Natsu didn't mean to yell at Erza but… "I'm keeping her here until she wakes up." He knew he was sounding crazy but he didn't care.

Erza felt herself smile internally, she knew if she actually smiled at Natsu it would be like poking a bear so it was better to ignore that comment for now. "Okay then everyone, let's get some sleep, tomorrow morning we will have Lucy tell us what happened and then make it back to the guild. I believe after everything Lucy has been through it's time for us to really celebrate her being back and with us."

"What if she isn't up to celebrating?" Happy asked worriedly.

"Well if I know Lucy she won't tell us what happened and try to keep it inside and distract herself for a while. Your guys' job, Natsu and Happy, will be to be there for her when she can't put up a front anymore."

"Sounds like a plan to me! Operation make Lucy feel better!" Happy looked at Erza glad that she was taking charge of the situation.

"That's a pretty simple name Happy, but you got the gist of it," Gray said jokingly coming over to stand next to Erza.

Natsu nodded and continued to look over the sleeping Lucy's face. As of right now, he made a promise to himself, he was not letting Lucy out of his sight no matter what.

* * *

 _ **A/N: What did you guys think?! It was my first time writing a scene that was heavy in terms of how a character died and I must admit it hurt my heart to write it but I felt it necessary for Lucy's growth. I would love to know what you all think of the story so far?! Drop me a comment and let me know what you thought of the Nalu moments or of poor Lucy's flashback!**_

… _ **.or anything actually! ^.^**_

 _ **I am always super grateful to you guys! Over 2,600 views, 30 followers, 15 favorites, and 5 reviews!**_

 _ **I am writing a guild celebration soon to cut back on the some of the angsty moments *Lucy needs a break* so any funny moments you guys have between our favorite guild members that you would like to see, send me a message!**_

 _ **Until next time guys!**_

 _ ***Arigatou Gozaimasu* ^.^**_


	11. Chapter 11

_**Hola Mina! Happy Sunday! ^.^**_

 _ ***Clears throat* I DO NOT OWN FAIRY TAIL or all its lovelies! Hiro Mashima does**_

 _ **PROCEED WITH CAUTION: CHAPTERS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FROM THE ANIME/MANGA FROM TARTAROS ARC FORWARD!**_

 _ **Here is my first fluffy chapter for you guys! So I hope you enjoy the craziness that is the lovely members of Fairy Tail!**_

 _ **As I've said before this is an AU so all those pairings that I want to see together are GONNA HAPPEN! Muahahaha…**_

 _ **With that said on to the chapter!**_

* * *

~~~~~~~Chapter 11 ~~~~~~~~~

Lucy woke up feeling something warm pressed against her back. She snuggled closer to the source of heat. She was more than content to forget everything that happened and just lose herself in the moment. She finally noticed that what she was snuggling against was kind of hard…and was moving…

 _It's so warm_. Lucy had to fight her desire to stay where she was, especially now that she was aware that she was actually pressed against Natsu's sleeping form.

 _How did I get into this position?_ Lucy tried to backtrack and recall how this happened. She remembered sleeping on the opposite side of Natsu before the storm hit…

 _THE STORM!_ As the fog of sleep finally wore off she remembered the hell she had lived through last night. She had woken up as if she was in a trance and relived the most horrendous memory of her life. The murder of her mother and then on top of that she had collapsed against Natsu in a mess of tears and she hadn't even been able to speak. _God I'm exhausted_ , Lucy felt beyond emotionally drained. Too much had happened and she just wanted to disappear into a temporary hole and forget this nightmare.

Lucy knew that, wasn't going to happen. She was going to have to face reality and explain to Natsu just what had happened. Erza and everyone in the guild deserved to know just what had really happened that night, _or at least they deserve to know more than just the basics_.

"I know you're awake," Natsu whispered close to Lucy's ear causing her to shriek and roll away.

"Natsu!" Lucy blushed furiously from the feel of his breath against her ear, it felt like a gentle caress. _Get it together Lucy!_

Lucy looked around as she noticed that everyone else was awake and looking at her. _Dammit, how long have I been asleep?_

She saw the identical looks of concern on everyone's faces. She sighed internally, this was a look she was growing familiar with and honestly she was tired of seeing it. It reminded her that too much had happened to her recently. She also really did not want to explain exactly how her mother had been murdered as it was still too fresh in her mind. Lucy attempted to keep her composure...at least for the time being.

She glared over at Natsu before turning back to everyone, "I am really sorry for worrying all of you guys." Lucy bowed her head feeling guilty for causing them to feel that way.

"Luce-"

"No Natsu, ever since I came back it has been one thing after another and I honestly feel guilty for being the cause of everything."

Happy flew over to Lucy, who caught him and pulled him into her chest.

"You guys deserve an explanation about what I saw but it's just a little too much right now. It's still too fresh for me." She kept going hoping that they would let her finish.

"I saw my mother murdered by Mard Geer, she was…right there, dying before my very eyes by that…words can't even describe what I think of him. I just need time guys, trust me when I say that it feels good to finally have my memory back." She lightly scratched the top of Happy's head as she kept going.

"But for now, I just want to step away from the pain and get used to just being back here with you guys." She looked at her fellow guild members knowing that they would understand where she was coming from. At the very least if anyone could understand her it was these people.

Gray looked at Lucy understanding her need to keep to herself, _hell, we have all done it…even when we shouldn't have_ , "Lucy don't worry I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say we understand and you don't have to worry."

"Yea Luce! Whenever you're ready I'll be there!" Natsu said while getting up from his spot on the floor. _Shit! I said I! I meant to say we_ …Natsu quickly busied himself with collecting their things since he figured he'd be boarding the carriage of death and doom soon.

"Erza said that the guild was going to have a-"

"Happy…" Erza glared over at the small blue exceed warning him to keep his mouth shut in other terms. She had already threatened Natsu to not say anything but it seemed that Happy almost let the surprise slip.

"What Happy?" Lucy held him up to see what he was hiding from her.

"Um..."

"We're gonna have a drinking contest!" Natsu replied quickly trying to help his partner out before Happy ended up receiving some kind of punishment from Erza. Natsu shivered at the thought. Gray just turned to keep Lucy from seeing his smile… _a drinking contest…really? Then again in our guild that is a possibility, not bad Flame Brain._

"A drinking contest huh?" Lucy was not convinced. Besides she knew her friends were not the best at keeping a secret so she imagined there would probably be some kind of surprise waiting for her at the guild. _Oh well, it's not like I don't know Happy's weak spot I can always figure out a way to get it out of him later._

"Alright everyone, it's been decided. Lucy, you collect whatever things you want to bring back with us from your home. Gray! Natsu!" Erza looked at them to make sure she had their attention, "You guys will help Lucy put her things in our carriage."

Gray laughed at the expression on Natsu's face at the mention of transportation. Some things will never change…

*****Fairy Hills*******

Lucy sat across from Levy, looking out of her window. As soon as she had arrived back to Magnolia she had apologized profusely to the small blue haired mage.

"Thanks for letting me stay here when we got back Levy." Lucy smiled over at her friend who was currently getting ready for whatever was going on in the guild. "I just realized, when we got back, that I couldn't stay at my apartment anymore. At least not until we have dealt with that asshole Mard Geer and I know it's safe."

"It's okay Lu-chan! I am happy you asked! Although I'm surprised you didn't take Natsu and Happy up on their offer to stay with them. You guys are really close and..Hey! You're blushing! Did something happen while you guys were at your house?!"

Lucy laughed, _there really is no point in hiding it from Levy, besides I need to talk to someone about it before I go crazy._ "No! Nothing happened or I mean not really anything happened." She twirled her hair in her hands, nervous now that she was going to admit something she had kept secret for so long.

"Okay all done!" Levy plopped down next to Lucy on her bed, "Spill Lu-chan!"

"Okay! Okay! Well I mean Natsu has just been acting strange lately, He is much more attentive than he was in the past. When I leave to go somewhere I can expect to see him follow me at some point. Levy one time, when we were sitting together he burst into flames after warming my hands up because I was cold. When we were on the carriage ride here Erza had knocked Natsu out and she and Gray told me that Natsu would not let me go. After I fell asleep he held onto me the entire night."

Levy burst into a fit of giggles rolling over on her bed.

"Levy!"

"Oh come on Lu-chan! Isn't it obvious!?"

Lucy pursed her lips at her friend, "Isn't what obvious? Natsu is just concerned is all."

Levy sweatdropped, _I love you Lucy but sometimes you can be so dense…you guys were made for each other_. "Sure…he's just concerned. Lucy admit it! At least admit to yourself that you have feelings for Natsu!"

"I…I mean…"

"Lu-chan, it's okay. I mean imagine how I was feeling when I realized what was going on with Gajeel. I know it can be a little nerve-wracking but you need to admit it to yourself."

Lucy looked at Levy knowing she was right _, I mean I even heard my own mother say it when I was in my memory_. "Okay! Okay! Okay! You're right I do like him." She got up and started pacing, "I mean my heart races when he is too close to me, and I wanted to stay with him but the fact that I wanted to stay with him freaked me out, and then when he touches me I freak out…UGH!" Lucy let herself fall face first back onto Levy's bed.

"I'm doomed! Levy! I don't think he feels the same way and even if he did! We are partners, wouldn't things get weird? Ugh!"

Levy rolled Lucy over so she could see her face, and to stop her from trying to smother herself. "No, you are not. Trust me, I have a feeling things will work out sooner than you think." Levy wasn't about to tell Lucy but she and the rest of the girls planned to be unavailable for the evening so Lucy was going to have no choice but to stay with Natsu. She only hoped Mirajane had convinced Laxus and the rest of the gang to make sure Natsu did not take no for an answer.

"You think?" Lucy asked expectantly disgusted at the hope that bloomed within her chest.

"Yes, I do! Now come on we have to go to the guild before someone comes looking for us!"

"Wait a minute… you said Gajeel! Are you and him-?"

Levy just smiled, "that will be a story for later, I am sure you are dying to hear just what changes happened in the guild since you've been gone."

"Okay fine!" Lucy's smile stopped for a second as butterflies entered her stomach again, "I don't know why I am so nervous" she said sheepishly knowing that she was stalling.

"It's okay Lu-chan, it's been a year! Once you see everyone again that feeling will disappear."

Lucy knew she was right, "Alright let's head over then."

*****At the guild******

Lucy figured there would be some kind of celebration but seeing the welcome home sign surrounded by the familiar faces of her family was better than she had imagined.

There was a loud "WELCOME HOME LUCY!" as soon as she entered the guild hall. Everyone crowded around her talking at once.

"Love rival you're back!" Lucy laughed waiting for the obligatory Gray comment afterward but surprisingly Juvia didn't say anything else as she hugged Lucy.

Here was her family, the family of her heart who was always there when it mattered. _I am so happy to be back!_

Someone cleared their throat behind the crowd of people. Natsu and Happy came over to stand beside Lucy as the Master jumped onto the bar wearing his customary fools hat.

"The hardest thing a parent has to do is say goodbye to one of their children. Lucy…I can see by the look in your eyes that all of your memories have returned. I apologize for the part I played. Maybe if we had arrived earlier-"

"Master! You didn't know." Lucy said vehemently. She knew it was not the Master's fault and she was not letting anyone besides the one truly responsible take on that burden.

The master smiled over at her pleased to have her back in the guild safe and sound. "Still the results of that day weigh heavily on me. All I can say is that I am happy you are safe and back with us. Here is where you will stay."

Lucy heard a small whisper from someone "Damn right," on her left, all too aware that Natsu had tensed at the Master's words.

"We protect our family and even though your parents are no longer with us, I know that they are proud and happy for you. They are proud of the daughter that they raised and that she is going to be kept safe. That is what they wanted for you because they loved you."

Lucy did her best to not cry, _keep it together…keep it together…_ Levy placed a hand on Lucy's shoulder.

"There will be a time for a serious discussion and for creating a plan but now is not the time. Now is the time for celebrating the return of one of us, a comrade, a loved one and a friend. Every one of us here loves you and is happy at your return. Fairy Tail members can do nothing less and he will pay with every fiber of his being for the day he decided to mess with one of our own." The master's fist clenched during the end, all around Lucy she could hear murmured agreements.

The master raised his right arm with his palm facing inward. He slowly raised his thumb and forefinger in the traditional Fairy Tail sign.

"Welcome home my child! Let's celebrate Fairy Tail style! Pour out the drinks!"

The guild hall erupted into a fit of cheers as everyone raised their hands mirroring the symbol of solidarity, trust, and love. Lucy couldn't keep it in anymore and as she slowly lifted her arm, she joined the rest of them and yelled through her tears, "AYE SIR!"

**And Then***

"Lucy! Co...me… here!"

"Cana is drunk already?" Lucy laughed as she walked over the card mage who was sitting with a barrel of alcohol between her legs on one of the tables. She was surrounded by Mirajane, Lisanna, Juvia, Levy, Meredy, Wendy, and Erza.

Lucy gulped, she could only imagine what was going to become of her when she went to sit down. Lucy's head couldn't stop spinning from how much had changed. Some mages from Lamia Scale and Crime Sorciere had come over to celebrate her return as well. Apparently, she had been informed by Jellal just a little while ago that when the magic council was wiped out during the Tartaros incident they had been pardoned. He had told her that it was because of the help they had provided after Tartaros.

Lucy had to remind herself to close her mouth on way too many occasions today. When she had seen Meredy and Lyon together, when she had seen Jellal blushing at something Erza had said, even Mirajane and Laxus were way too close to not be considered a couple! _Was there something in the air that everyone decided to partner up within the last year._ Those weren't the only ones. There was definitely something going on between Lisanna and Bixlow...not that they would admit it. She was happy that Elfman and Evergreen were no longer trying to hide their relationship. _I mean everyone knew those two were together so I'm glad they are no longer hiding it._

Lucy walked over to the girls, "I honestly cannot believe how much has changed."

Mirajane giggled, "By changed do you mean so many of us have either admitted our feelings or are in a relationship."

"YES! What in the world happened? I mean okay guys spill it! Erza are you guys officially dating?"

Meredy nudged Juvia in the side, "You mean once they had that conversation about the identity of his 'fiancee'?" She and Juvia started laughing only to stop with a look from Erza.

Erza blushed looking over at Jellal who was sitting with the boys, "Um…well I knew he was lying about that." She smiled remembering, "He was never a really good liar after all. Honestly Lucy after everything that had happened in Tartaros it just didn't make sense anymore. We all know that things can happen that will cause us to potentially lose people. I for one did not want to stop living or guarding myself anymore."

Lucy placed her head on the table smiling dreamily at Erza, she felt so happy for the requip mage. She knew how much she had struggled with her past and letting people in and finally seeing her happy was so rewarding!

"Jellal found me actually not shortly after my fight with Kyoka. I know I really didn't talk about that moment much but…"

"Erza," Mirajane placed a hand on Erza's shoulder, "we know. I was there I saw what she did to you."

She nodded before continuing, "Anyway I was sitting alongside a bank just starting at the water when Crime Sorciere walked by and Jellal saw me."

*****Flashback*****

 _Why can't I stop shaking? Am I ever going to recover from this?_

"Erza…?"

Erza jumped realizing that she had spaced out. She hadn't realized that Jellal and the rest of Crime Sorciere had walked past her.

"Jellal"

"Jellal! We will go on ahead! You can contact us when you are finished talking about our Lacrima and we will meet up later." Meredy waved at him already walking away from the pair. _No more running Jellal. This is what Ultear would have wanted, I am not going to let you torture yourself anymore._

"But Meredy…" Jellal sighed knowing that his words fell on deaf ears as she and the group had left them alone. Jellal looked over at Erza who was looking over at him. She had been sitting looking so lost with her knees pressed against her chest. He was not used to seeing her that way. He couldn't help the strong desire to take away her pain. The desire had washed over him like a tidal wave.

Meredy was right, he needed to stop hiding. He knew he did not deserve her, the amazing beauty that lived in the light but try as he might he could not forget her. Her strength, her loyalty, her capacity for love made her so unreachable to him. But, no matter how hard he tried he could not get her out of his mind. He knew he was nowhere near good enough for her yet. He had not atoned for his sins enough…and yet…with her sitting by the water looking as if the world had crushed her very soul he could not leave her.

Erza waited, she knew that Jellal was fighting some kind of internal battle before he decided to sit down next to her. He didn't say anything, simply sat by her waiting for her to open up the conversation. _My shaking has stopped. Just to have him next to me is enough to drive away the blinding fear that had taken over my heart._

"Thank you."

Jellal looked into Erza's dark chocolate eyes and he couldn't help himself, "You have nothing to thank me for Erza. It is I who should be thanking you."

"What do you mean?" Erza scooted closer to him unable to stop herself from wanting to be near him.

"Erza for so long I have struggled with what happened between us as children. You are and have always been the light that has kept me sane. Even in my darkest moments, there was something about you that kept me going. I have kept my distance from you because I have committed sins that most days feel are beyond redemption. The imprisonment of so many of our friends, the death of Simon…"

Erza didn't say anything she merely placed her hand on top of his, no longer able to stop herself from reaching out to him. _Funny how the roles have reversed and here I am comforting him._

"With establishing Crime Sorciere I have honestly felt a measure of comfort. I have felt that I am fighting on the same side as you now. I know that what I have done can never be forgotten or forgiven but still I have-"

Erza could not listen anymore, "Jellal please stop. For too long you and I have been puppets of other forces in the world. Did you ask to be enslaved as a child? Did you ask to be taken to that horrible place and be placed in a situation where you had to watch loved ones being tortured and killed? Did you ask to be put into a situation where you had to save me which is what gave the demon of Zeref the opportunity to take control of you? These are all things that we have lived through."

Erza stood up bringing Jellal to stand next to her, she placed her hands on his shoulder unable to tear her gaze from the sad look in his crystal blue eyes. "We have survived. We survived and lived. While there are things from your past that cannot be erased, that does not mean that the essence of you, who you are as a person is not worth or does not deserve some measure of happiness."

She turned her back, afraid that she would not be able to keep her composure, "For too long I have told myself that my sole purpose is to be a pillar of light and a source of strength for others. For too long I have cast aside my needs and desires because in the grand scheme of things I felt that the safety and protection of my family and friends were more important. But now…after everything that has happened I am questioning so much… and being a pillar of strength can be such a weight to carry…"

Jellal heard the crack in her voice and could not stand it. He grabbed Erza by the waist and turned her so that he could properly wrap his arms around her. This was a side of Erza that he had not seen in awhile, a side of her that was also dear to his heart, her vulnerability. _I could lie to myself and say that I am not affected but really this woman is what keeps me going._

Erza clutched her hands onto the lapels of his jacket, she pressed her cheek against his chest and listened to the sound of his erratic heartbeat. "Erza let me be your pillar of strength. I know I am not-"

Erza placed a finger against his lips, "Please no more. Promise me Jellal, no more hiding, no more imaginary fiancés, no more leaving without me knowing if I will see you again, let's fight together. I want you to stay by me." She blushed as she whispered her inner most desire to him, not caring anymore.

Jellal blushed at the mention of a fiancé. He knew it had been a stupid move on his part but he had freaked out at the possibility of finally feeling his lips pressed against hers and the idea that she was beyond him was too much at that moment.

Jellal knew things were different now, he would fight with this woman by his side. No more running away. He knew that he would have a lifetime to seek redemption but he could no longer deny what they obviously both felt. He placed his finger under Erza's chin and brought her face up to meet his.

"No more running away." Jellal wiped at the tear that had formed at his words before closing the distance between them. Jellal brushed his lips against her and pressed her tighter against him.

All thoughts fled from Erza's mind at the realization that it was finally happening. Her lips moved in response to his while their mouths melded as if they were made for each other. Jellal deepened the kiss by biting her lip which made her gasp in response. He took that opportunity to invade her mouth with his tongue. Erza grabbed Jellal's hair with her fist allowing him to deepen the kiss without losing control of herself…

*****End of flashback****

Lucy fanned herself as Erza finished her story… _woah who would have thought!_

Erza blushed as she continued, "Nothing further happened of course! But ever since then Jellal has not been far and has been at the guild hall more often than not."

"More often than not?" Meredy chuckled, "Erza he is never too far from you! Even when we go on jobs he does not like to be gone for longer than a week. If he is going to be gone he somehow convinces you to go with us."

Cana burst out laughing along with the rest of the girls at that comment.

"I wonder how he convinces you!" Cana said after sipping from her drink, Lucy was always amazed that no matter what Cana did she never managed to spill any of her alcohol. Lucy stepped a little to the left knowing exactly where this was going. While some things had changed in the guild Erza's temper was not one of those things.

"Cana!"

Mirajane stepped between the two girls before a riot could start. Now that she had Lucy here, she was definitely going to keep her here as long as she had to do that she could pry the information that she needed from her, and Erza was not going to ruin that. "Erza here!" She pulled out a delicious strawberry cake that she had saved especially for this purpose.

Erza knew that she was being bribed _but there are just some things I can't say no too_. She grabbed the cake from Mirajane and sat down.

Lucy joined her before sighing happily, crisis avoided, "Erza, I really am happy for you both you deserve to be happy"

Erza smiled at Lucy chewing on a bite of her cake.

"Okay, so my next victim will be Juvia! What has been going on with you and Gray lately!? Don't think I haven't noticed that he keeps looking over this way!"

Juvia just laughed at Lucy's expression. "Juvia-san is more than happy to talk about what has happened between Juvia and my darling Gray-sama." All the girls couldn't help but smile at the vacant expression Juvia got whenever she thought of Gray.

* * *

 _ **A/N 1: Ekkkkk I am so happy! Over 3,000 views, 34 followers, 19 favorites, and 6 reviews! I will always respond to all you lovelies who review because it seriously makes me so happy and motivated! Those that I can't message directly I will give you a shout-out here!**_

 **Guest: Thank you so much! I am glad you are enjoying the story!**

* * *

 _ **A/N 2: I hope you guys enjoyed the fluffiness! Don't worry there will MOST DEFINITELY BE A LOOONNNG NALU MOMENT :) after I have had some fun with the other ships of course! Did you guys enjoy the Jerza moment? Let me know what you guys think of my first Fluff! Or what you thought of the chapter in general. Tehehe**_

 _ **I will be continuing the guild celebration for a couple of more chapter since I am about the Fluff right now. I need a break from the angsty moments lol. I am planning on having the guys have a moment hehehehe so is there any specific guy from Fairy Tail that you would see harassing Natsu about Lucy? Let me know your opinion and I may include it!**_

 _ **Until next time guys!**_

 _ ***Arigatou Gozaimasu* ^.^**_


	12. Chapter 12

_**Happy Sunday! ^.^**_

 _ **FAIRY TAIL IS OWNED BY HIRO MASHIMA NOT I ;)**_

 _ **PROCEED WITH CAUTION: CHAPTERS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FROM THE ANIME/MANGA FROM TARTAROS ARC FORWARD!**_

 _ **Here is the continuation of what has changed with the Guild Members while Lucy has been away ^.^**_

 _ **This chapter is going to be a little short as my muse was not as strong in this chapter as with the last one**_

 _ **With that said on to the chapter!**_

* * *

~~~~~Chapter 12~~~~~~~

 _Juvia is so happy Lucy is back, Juvia couldn't help but notice how much Natsu has changed since remembering Lucy._ Juvia was actually more quiet regarding things related to her and Gray ever since they lived together 6 months ago. It seemed after the time they spent Juvia didn't feel the need to be constantly next to Gray...if anything the more she loved him the more she was able to give him space. It had also helped that she had formed a team (of sorts) with Gajeel and Team Shadow Gear.

When she wasn't going on jobs with them she would team up with Gray. Juvia cupped her cheeks and grinned remembering those amazing moments.

"Juvia?…Juvia! Earth to Juvia" Lucy waved her hands in front of Juvia's face.

"We lost her," Lisanna said laughingly dropping off some more drinks for the girls since it seemed like it was going to take a little while to get Lucy caught up on everything.

"Lu-chan? What happened with your spirits? I'm surprised that Loke hasn't shown up at least." Levy had been wondering that for a while but was worried about bringing up anything that would remind Lucy of anything painful.

"Oh! I can feel through our connection that my spirits are okay. Time flows differently in the celestial world remember? So I'm sure Loke will show up within the next day or two."

"That's right! I forgot!"

"Juvia is glad that your spirits are doing well Lucy, Juvia can't imagine how much that must have worried you."

"Yea, thankfully Loke came to speak to Natsu and Happy so having their keys on me makes me feel better-"

"Natsu huh?…Say Lucy-" started Cana but before she could finish that thought Lucy changed the subject quickly.

"So Juvia! I hear you lived with Gray for 6 months!?"

"Yes, Lucy-san! Juvia does not normally talk about it, but Gray has told Juvia that he does not mind her talking about that frightening but wonderful time."

"Juvia and Gray-sama went on a job together after what happened in Tartaros and it took us much longer than we imagined it would."

*****Flashback******

"Juvia?"

"Yes, Gray-sama?" Juvia wondered what had made Gray stop. _We are not at our location yet, I hope nothing is wrong_.

"Let's stop somewhere for the night it's beginning to pour really badly."

Juvia couldn't help but giggle at the thoughts that passed through her mind. _Let's stop somewhere for the night? Oh how bold Gray-sama! Juvia must wonder if she is ready?_ Juvia was so lost in her thoughts that she wasn't paying attention to the road they were on.

"JUVIA LOOK OUT!" Gray felt the carriage clip him on the side as he pushed Juvia out of harm's way and onto the ground.

Gray looked down annoyed that she was lost in her head again. _Knowing her she was most likely thinking_ _of_ _some fantasy involving me_ _._ He sighed, "Are you okay?"

Juvia, momentarily distracted by the feel of Gray's body pressed against hers, had to focus on breathing for a second before answering. It wasn't that she was hurt, on the contrary, she was elated beyond belief at the position they currently found themselves in. It only took her a moment, but she noticed that Gray was hurt.

"Yes, Juvia is fine. Juvia is sorry that she was not paying attention, but Gray-sama you're hurt!"

 _Damn_ , Gray winced as Juvia helped him get up. "It's nothing Juvia, I'm fine just pay attention to where you're going okay?"

Juvia nodded but remained by his side in case he needed help.

"Dammit, all this rain is going to make it impossible to follow the tracks of the bastards we are after."

"Juvia swears it's not her!"

Gray smiled knowing how sensitive Juvia was about the rain, "I know Juvia."

Juvia loved seeing Gray smile. _He looks so different when he smiles_. Juvia had a feeling that Gray was not as indifferent towards her as he pretended to be. She stopped mid-thought. "Look over there Gray-sama. There seems to be an abandoned cottage nearby."

"Alright! Let's hope that it has some provisions at least. Let's go!"

Once they were settled in, Juvia cleaned out the living area. _JUVIA IS IN A HOUSE WITH GRAY-SAMA ALONE,_ she couldn't help but squeal internally. As much as she had imagined this in her head that fact that it was really happening was something different entirely.

"Juvia…"

Juvia turned around. "Yes, Gray-sama?" She stopped what she was doing when she noticed that he was swaying on his feet and his skin had changed to a reddish color.

Juvia swiftly went to Gray's side and placed her hand on his forehead as she pushed him down onto the small bed that inhabited the cottage.

"Gray-sama you're running a fever!" Juvia panicked, Gray was almost never sick. She hadn't actually seen him get sick since joining the guild, now that she thought about it. She was sure he had become sick at some point, but the point was that she was freaking out now.

"Dammit, I knew this was going to happen." Gray felt dizzy. He rarely ever got sick but with the lack of sleep, coupled with the intense rain they had been walking under, and the carriage accident it was no wonder his body was failing him now.

Gray felt himself being pulled onto the bed by Juvia, not surprised that the water mage was helping him. Juvia was the one constant in his life. She was always there, whenever he needed her or even when he didn't think he needed her. He would never admit this to her but he was not as immune to her charms as everyone thought he was. Sure, she was clingy in the beginning, _so clingy,_ but she had calmed down the more confident she had become in herself.

Gray felt a cold compress being placed on his forehead and thanked the heavens that this woman was sitting next to him. He smiled as he drifted off into sleep, _she smells so nice almost like fresh air after a rainstorm_.

***later in the week***

Juvia was frantic, this was the fourth day and Gray's fever still had not broken. She had done everything she could think of to nurse him back to health. She had used a cold compress on his body, she had forcefully fed him a homemade broth and had even slept next to him when he could not seem to stop shivering. _What if he doesn't get better?_ Juvia whimpered as the thought passed through her mind. She had tried so hard to be optimistic and yet it didn't seem to be helping her currently. She did not want to leave him because what if something happened while she tried to get help.

"Juvia…water…don't go…stay with me…I need you…"

Juvia was no longer shocked at hearing his words, it was the mantra that he seemed to have developed during his fevered state. The first time she heard his inner thoughts she had nearly passed out from happiness but that was then. Now…all she wanted now was for the love of her life to recover from this sickness and for his fever to break.

"DAD!"

Juvia pressed Gray back onto the bed as he tried to get up, quietly weeping and mumbling words she couldn't decipher. Juvia couldn't think of anything else to do except to try to soothe his pain. She murmured sweet words to him while combing her fingers through his hair to calm him down. This was not the first time he randomly yelled out words, it seems that every time he slept he was met with some tormented fear or terror. After a while of her assuring him that she was there and everything was going to be okay, he finally quieted.

Juvia could not seem to stop shaking.

"You are not dying on me! You hear me Gray Fullbuster! You must fight this! You must come back to me!" Juvia shouted hoping that he would win whatever internal battle he seemed to be fighting right now.

She stopped her inner musing after noticing that his teeth were chattering again. Juvia didn't falter for a moment and climbed into bed with him, wrapping her arms around him. After a while, she had generated enough warmth with her body that he was able to sleep peacefully. Juvia placed her head over his heart and listened to its quiet steady rhythm. This was the position that she had fallen asleep in for the past couple of nights. It was the only way she could calm down enough to get any sleep.

"Juvia?"

Juvia woke with a start noticing that it was still dark out. She had gotten used to waking up throughout the night but Gray's voice sounded different. The first thing she noticed was that the bed was wet. _What is this water-Gray's fever must have broken!_ She looked up to see Gray staring down at her, his eyes were no longer glassy but clear and he obviously knew where he was.

"What happened? Why is my throat so dry and Juvia… why am I pretty much almost naked with you lying on top of me?"

*******End of Flashback*****

"OMG Juvia!" Lucy yelled out loud causing the boys to look over at her. _O_ _o_ _ps…maybe I should slow down on the drinks a little…_ "You must have been so embarrassed."

Juvia simply shook her head, "Honestly Lucy-san I was so relieved Gray was okay that I threw myself on top of him and cried over him."

The other girls smiled since they had already heard this story, they could only imagine how scared Juvia must have been.

"After that, Gray-sama changed towards Juvia. We were forced to stay at that cottage for almost six months-"

"SIX MONTHS!?" Lucy couldn't believe it. They were in the same space for so long.

Juvia just laughed, "Yes, we were there for six months. First, it was that he needed to recuperate and get his strength back. Then it became our base for dealing with the bandits. The ring was much larger than we anticipated so it took time for us to get all of them."

"Oh that makes sense"

"Not that Juvia here was complaining…" Cana burst out laughing almost knocking her precious barrel over.

"Juvia wishes that she and Gray-sama were still there…" Juvia looked over longingly at the man in question.

"While we were there we shared everything, we trained together, talked, ate together and it felt like-"

"Like you were married!" Mirajane clasped her hands together as a huge grin spread across her face.

"Oh, Mira! Yes! Like that! And ever since then Gray-sama has been acting differently towards Juvia."

"Yup Lu-chan he is much more attentive to Juvia than he was before and it seems he can't let her out of his sight for long." Levy piped in seeing the look of confusion on Lucy's face.

"Yes, I have noticed that..." Lucy replied she had seen the amount of time Gray had looked over here and now it made sense.

"Gray informed Juvia that he would give her an answer after everything with Zeref had been resolved and dealt with, although with the way things are looking I do not know if he will hold out for that long," Erza informed Lucy.

"Oh, Juvia hopes so!"

** Elsewhere in the Guild**

The boys looked over at the girls again for about the 7th time that night.

"I wonder what the hell they are talking about over there?" Gray sighed, _considering that Lucy and Juvia kept looking over here it's probably about me._

"I doubt it's anything manly." Elfman chimed in glad that Ever wasn't over with the rest of the girls. Thankfully she was currently in a conversation with Freed and Bixlow.

"Well since Juvia and Lucy are looking over here it's probably about Gray," Happy said chewing happily on his fish.

Lily nodded in agreement.

Gajeel laughed, "They're prolly telling Lucy about the time you shacked up with Juvia."

"We didn't shack up!" Gray stood up knocking over his drink.

"Oh, yea?" Responded Natsu, "Then what were you doing for those six months?"

Laxus crossed his arms over his chest leaning back against his chair waiting for the fight that was about to happen.

"I am pretty sure Gajeel is right about what they are speaking of considering that Erza was recently speaking to Lucy," Jellal stated aloud, watching the now fighting trio.

Laxus nodded in agreement knowing that, that was most likely exactly what was going on over there. He thought about what Mira had suggested he do and smirked. It shouldn't be hard to get Natsu all riled up over Lucy. He knew exactly what to say and what buttons to push to get Natsu to offer his place up to Lucy.

Normally he didn't like getting involved in the romantic entanglements of his guildmates but when Mira had turned her beautiful crystal blue eyes on him he hadn't known what to do. Better to go along with her plan than to risk her shifting to devil mode.

"You know something Jellal?" Laxus turned to look at him squarely in the eye, he knew Natsu had amazing hearing so no matter how low he spoke Natsu would be able to hear.

"I actually overheard the girls talking about how Lucy does not want to stay in her apartment for right now. What with everything that happened there recently."

Jellal thought about that for a moment, " I am not surprised, Erza actually looked quite concerned for her when she came back from visiting her home. Is she not staying with one of the girls?"

Elfman, being Mira's younger brother and all knew exactly what Laxus was plotting, "She's staying with Levy but isn't she going on a mission with Gajeel and Lily?"

"Oh…" Jellal tried to think of another possible alternative, "Well what about-"

"I wouldn't suggest Erza if I was you, I heard her saying something about a rare armor in another part of town. So I wouldn't be surprised if she dragged you over with her," said Gray as he walked back over to the guys shirtless.

Natsu had stopped fighting Gajeel since hearing Lucy's name, "So who is Lucy going to stay with then?"

"Well, I guess it would have to be someone pretty manly."

"Or you know someone who was pretty close to her so she would be comfortable, Gihi."

Happy grinned already knowing where this was going, he figured he could just ask Natsu to tell Lucy to stay with them but he wanted Natsu to come to his own conclusion even if it took a while.

Lily walked over to Gajeel taking the kiwis from his partner's hand as he tried to figure out just what exactly the guys were hinting at. Considering the fools were putting a lot of pressure on Natsu he could only imagine that they were trying to set him up.

Gray walked next to Natsu and casually put a hand on his shoulder, "Hmm well Juvia and I are supposed to go on another job tomorrow but I guess I can always ask Luc-"

"Shutup!" Natsu burst into flames at the thought of Lucy staying over at Gray's, "It's obvious that she will stay with us right Happy!?"

"Aye, Sir!"

"Now that that's settled COME FIGHT ME GRAY! FIRE DRAGON FIST!" Natsu charged ahead at Gray needing to let off some steam considering how nervous he felt at having Lucy stay in his house.

Laxus smiled over the flurry of fire and ice happening less than two feet away from him… _so predictable._

Gajeel grabbed a hunk of the steel that Kinana had placed on their table and looked at his partner, "What's wrong Lily?"

"Nothing, I am just wondering about women."

Gajeel choke. Was his partner having female problems with an exceed, _Oh man please don't let it be that. I am not ready for this yet._

"What kinda problems?"

"Lucy has not been here for about a year and yet all the girls seem to be talking about is relationships and boys. Are women always like this when they get together?"

Elfman, Gajeel, Jellal and Laxus all looked around to make sure no one of the Fairy Tail women had heard that comment. Once the coast was clear they chuckled at the expression on Lily's face.

** and then **

"Jeez, they can be so loud sometimes," Levy said distractedly looking over at the fighting Natsu and a nearly naked Gray.

Mirajane looked questioningly back at the boys, "Hmm… I do wonder what they are talking about. I have a sneaking suspicion it has to do with us considering that they all looked over here as if they were afraid we were standing over them."

"Ha! They probably are saying things that they don't want us to hear because they are afraid they'll get their asses kicked." Cana said imagining just what those idiots were talking about.

"I would have to agree with Cana" Charle chimed in while Wendy nodded in agreement.

"Another round! It looks like we still have lots to cover!"

Lucy looked around at her friends. They were smiling, laughing, and here was a true joy that she hadn't really felt in over a year. While her celestial spirits meant so much to her the people of Fairy Tail were equally as important to her.

"So Levy, now that Erza and Juvia have caught me up to speed on everything. When did you and Gajeel officially start dating!?" She said smiling as her friend turned a bright shade of red. _I mean did she really think she was gonna get out of this one_.

* * *

 _ **A/N 1: So guys. I will admit that the motivation to keep the story going was hard for me this week. Not because I don't love writing or the characters but because It's been a rough week in my personal life and I have been in a more somber state of mind. Which has made it hard for me to write humor and fluff. I really hope it didn't leak onto this chapter as you guys keep me going! Are you guys interested in the story continuing?**_

 _ **I still can't believe there are over 3,380 views, 40 followers, 20 favorites and 6 reviews! This is the reason I keep going every week and don't let what's going on in my person life stop me. Any reviews or helpful scenarios for characters in the future would be so helpful!**_

 _ **A/N 2: I really hope you guys enjoyed the Gruvia and guys moment ;) Please let me know what you think?**_

 _ **I'm planning on having a Gajeevy moment next. Any suggestions? Any extra pairings you want to see in the next chappie?**_

 _ **Until next time guys!**_

 _ ***Arigatou Gozaimasu* ^.^**_


	13. Chapter 13

_**Happy Sunday Everyone! ^.^**_

 _ **FAIRY TAIL IS OWNED BY HIRO MASHIMA NOT I ;)**_

 _ **PROCEED WITH CAUTION: CHAPTERS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FROM THE ANIME/MANGA FROM TARTAROS ARC FORWARD!**_

 _ **SO SORRY that I did not have my weekly update last Sunday! Last week It was insane with work and Thanksgiving so it was hard for me to write. Also I needed a break because I was starting to feel a little down about the FanFic but that funk has dissipated!**_

 _ **Without further ado! Onto the chapter!**_

* * *

~~~~~ Chapter 13 ~~~~~~~

Happy stopped what he was doing to look over at the girls. _Charle looks so calm and collected next to everyone else_ _,_ he thought dreamily as he noticed that Lucy appeared to be trying to push Levy to talk while Meredy and Juvia were giggling and laughed. Mirajane was talking with Wendy and Charle and Cana was trying to grab Lucy's chest again. _They can be so weird._

"Looks like Levy is being pressured next," he said aloud to Lily knowing that Lucy was being filled in on all the love that had emerged in the guild recently.

Lily nodded stoically, "I agree Happy. It seems that Levy is the next victim in their little game. She will be fine."

Gajeel grabbed his partner into a tight squeeze, it seemed that the copious amounts of liquor he had consumed in a bet with Natsu and Gray were finally getting to him. "Of course she will be! That's our shrimp over there. Nothing is going to beat her!"

"Gajeel…too..tight..." Lily knew just how much affection his partner had for him and one of these days Levy or Gajeel were going to squeeze the life out of him. _I can't imagine their kids…_ he shivered slightly but kept the smile that the image brought upon his face. He loved Gajeel and was happy that he had finally made a move towards Levy.

"I wasn't aware that you and Levy were dating Gajeel?" Jellal mentioned coming over to walk to the trio. At the sound of what they were talking about Natsu and Gray decided to stop fighting and sat next to the iron dragon slayer. Natsu grabbed a turkey leg and took a huge chunk out of it while Gray wondered where the hell he had thrown his pants.

"Oh, you didn't know Jellal?" Gray looked confused, "I'm surprised Erza never mentioned it considering she was there when it happened."

Jellal appeared pensive. "Well now that you mention it… I think she had tried to tell me something about a week ago when we went on our last mission but-" he blushed remembering just exactly how they had gotten sidetracked.

"Hmm…" Laxus said before grabbing the mage by the shoulder, "Looks like you guys were doing something naughty otherwise you wouldn't be turning that lovely shade of red."

"Oh really? What were you guys doing?" Natsu said around his turkey leg obliviously until he saw Laxus messing with Jellal.

 _Oh dam_ _mit! S_ _crew it, it's not like I need my shirt anyway,_ "He was probably expressing how much he loved Erza through the use of his mouth."

Jellal frowned over at a laughing Gray not knowing whether he should put him in his place or just take the teasing.

"Just as crude as ever I see."

"Lyon! I was wondering when you were going to make your appearance." He grinned over at his fellow ice mage, "You're usually never too far from Meredy either."

Lyon blushed but knew better than to say anything about it since Gray was right, "At least I have no problem expressing healthy emotions…unlike you when it comes to Juvia."

"What did you say?!" Gray stood up furious that Lyon would deal him that low blow.

"Looks like your buddy over there is right Ice princess." Natsu laughed at the expression on Gray's face. "Everyone is always talking about how you basically drool for her when no one is looking."

Gray's arm became encased in ice as he stared menacingly at the fire dragon slayer. "How about you watch your mouth you bastard. Considering you are clueless when it comes to what's going on between you and Lucy."

"Oh no..." Happy moved out of the way knowing that Natsu was going to blow.

Natsu blinked, taking a much needed second to process that stood up slowly, "What's going on between Lucy and I is none of your goddamn business YOU SHIT!" _I haven't even taken the time to really sit down and think about it and my brain feels all fuzzy because of the liquor._

"OI! Jellal was asking me about MY relationship you idiots! Don't go making this about you guys and your women issues...or lack thereof by the looks of things." Gajeel prepared his Iron dragon club for the next round of fighting that was about to go down.

** and then **

"Come on Levy! I really want to know how you guys made it official!" Lucy implored sitting next to Levy.

"Sorry, Lu-chan I was momentarily distracted by the tables flying by us. Looks like Lyon, Gray, Gajeel and Natsu are fighting now."

"Juvia has faith that Gray-sama will be the victor." She sighed dreamily while nodding towards the boys.

"Juvia will you never say anything even a little mean regarding Gray's abilities?" Meredy sighed looking at her friend who would probably go stand closer to Gray if the woman at the table would let her.

"Meredy are you really even asking that question?" Cana looked at her extremely confused. _No amount of anything_ _could_ _get Juvia to think that the sun does_ _n't_ _rise and set with Gray._

"Lucy you should have seen it." Mirajane said hugging herself as she remembered the day when someone finally professed their feelings.

******Flashback *******

"Gajeel! What are you doing here?" Levy looked out from the pile of books surrounding her on the floor. She was currently trying to code all of her books because apparently she had accumulated too many books. She had to decide which books were the most important ones, which she needed to keep and which ones she could put into storage. She was sitting in her room in Fairy Hills, you know the apartment buildings where it was forbidden for men to enter.

Gajeel jumped in through the window to stare down at the small blue headed mage. He loved it when she tried to look stern. She would wear that little frown on her face and cross her arms. He tried really hard not to smile because he knew it would not do anything except get her even more upset. _Oh well it's not like I don't like getting her riled up._

"What do YOU think I'm doing here shrimp?" He crossed his arms over his chest, "I overheard Mirajane going on about how no one could convince you to leave your room, that it had something to do with your book collection…" Gajeel trailed off as he looked around the room. Now that he really stopped to take it in, Levy's room was more chaotic than it normally was. He wasn't even talking about the books strewn haphazardly across the floor. Her bed was a mess and clothes were thrown about.

Gajeel walked closer to Levy.

Levy jumped up from the circle that she had created on the floor worried about the glare that was emanating from Gajeel, "I have no idea what you mean!" She said as nonchalant as she possibly could to avoid suspicion. _Dammit Mira, I was going to come out soon._

Gajeel simply looked at the fidgeting girl standing in front of him. Her clothes looked tussled and there were bags under her eyes. Now that he thought about it Mirajane was right to be worried. He had been out on a job with Lily for over a week and she had started this project since before he left. _Dammit! Has she completely forgotten about taking care of herself? She doesn't even look like she has eaten._

"When was the last time you ate Levy?"

Levy stopped trying to straighten her clothes and looked at Gajeel, _he must really be upset. He almost never uses my real name unless he is being serious._ She sighed knowing that there was no point arguing with him. People thought that Gajeel was dense when it came to people but he was actually extremely talented at reading people when he chose to do it. She knew there was no excuse that she could give him that would make him believe her. It was one of the qualities that she loved about him even if it was currently annoying her.

"Honestly, I can't remember. I think it was like like three days ago maybe when Erza brought me something and almost broke down the door before I let her in." Levy was watching Gajeel's face as she kept talking. His breathing changed and he started breathing more quickly as if trying to control his anger.

"Before you get upset!" she pleaded knowing it was a lost cause but willing to try anyway, "You know how I get when I really become immersed in cataloging my collection. It is extremely important to do this correctly and I need to create the space where the books (that do not fit in my room) will-"

Gajeel had heard enough if she wasn't going to take care of herself than she was leaving him with no choice.

"Gajeel! What are you doing put me down!"

Gajeel didn't even chuckle at the realization that she was lighter than normal, he picked up the solid script mage and tossed her over his shoulder. "If you're not going to take care of yourself than it seems that someone else has to do it. That someone is going to be me." He spoke as if he dared her to try to argue with him.

Levy couldn't really think straight as the blood was currently rushing to her head. "Gajeel could you please put me down I'm starting to get dizzy."

Gajeel slowly lowered Levy to the floor but did not release her. He saw that she looked exhausted and was slightly swaying before him. "Levy you are coming with me to my place and I don't want to hear anything about it. Got it?"

She saw the resolve in his eyes and decided to just nod her head. If she was being honest with herself she would have to admit that she had missed him. As much as Gajeel knew just what buttons to push to drive her crazy she was also deeply in love with the man. More than anything she would like for them to be together but she had been too timid to bring up how she felt. _I wish I had the courage to just say it_.

"Okay, but can I-"

"Nope," Gajeel said as he lifted her up slowly once more. This time he carefully cradled her in his arms since he did not want to make her sick. "Your books aren't going anywhere Shrimp, but you look like your fading over here. We need to put some meat back on your bones."

Gajeel chuckled at the flush of fury on Levy's expressive face. _God I love this girl_. He didn't even blink anymore when he thought the words. He had realized very early on what Levy meant to him.

…

Gajeel pushed the door closed to his apartment and allowed Levy to slide down the front of his body. Levy was all too aware of how close they were to each other and the proximity and the feel of him pressed against her was a little too much for her to handle currently. Gajeel laughed at the expression on her face and guided her over to his couch. "Here you lay down here and I will go make you something to eat. I don't want you forcing yourself to do anything you hear?"

"You're going to cook?" Levy asked in awe. She had known Gajeel for so long but it had never occurred to her to ask where he lived or some of his hobbies outside of the guild. She knew he and Lily were always together but for some reason, she had always felt weird asking him.

"Gihi, didn't know that I could cook did you? It was one of the things I had to teach myself at a young age. Metalicana didn't have more patience for it so it was either learn or starve. The older I got the more I realized I liked the way different flavors came together so I learned as much as I could. Iron of course is my favorite but I can appreciate other flavors."

He said it so matter of factor that Levy couldn't help but stare at him. _This is a side of Gajeel I have never seen before_.

"Alright Shortie, go lay down and I'll wake you up when the food is done. Oh and don't let Ice boy and Salamander know. It works to my benefit to keep them in the dark." Gajeel winked and laughed again at her stunned expression and pushed her down onto the couch.

"But I'm not sleepy-" as soon as she said that she let out a huge yawn. _Even my body is betraying me_.

"Sure Shrimp, you're not tired at all." He watched her as she made herself comfortable on the black leather couch that he had purchased. Gajeel pointed to the silver and gray afghan that he had resting on the opposite side of the couch. Levy began to cover herself when she realized that Gajeel's apartment was very nicely furnished.

Gajeel smiled as he sat down next to her knowing that if he didn't answer her questions she was never going to fall asleep. "Surprised?"

Levy shook her head, "Not really, you know I always took you for someone who was organized and cared about your own space."

"Really?" He looked at her surprised that she was able to read him so well.

"Well, yea…" Levy smiled sweetly at Gajeel knowing that he probably did not expect her to say that. " I know how much family and your personal things mean to you Gajeel. You really only have to see how you are with Lily to imagine how much you value your friends and the things you have worked so hard for."

Gajeel stood flabbergasted, there was no witty comeback or words that came to mind. In that moment the urge to tell Levy how he felt about her was so strong that he was afraid he would blurt out some stupid comment.

Levy went on without noticing the inner turmoil that Gajeel was going through, "I mean I do wonder if you did all of this alone. Some of the things here like the throw pillows, for instance, don't scream you."

Gajeel smiled at Levy. _She is so damn smart._ "That is true. Juvia actually was the one to help me pick things out. She said that it was necessary to buy some softer things considering that this would not always be a man's house."

Levy blushed, she could envision Juvia saying that exactly to Gajeel and she couldn't help but see herself living here with him. She was glad that Gajeel had such a great friend in Juvia considering how much he suffered before they met.

"Alright, Shrimp, no more questions for now." He poked her on the forehead with his finger, "Go to sleep." Gajeel adjusted the blanket before nodding and walking towards the kitchen.

Levy knew he was right. Levy cuddled into the couch as she breathed in the familiar smell of Gajeel that permeated the room. _I have never felt so at home in my life_ was the last coherent thought she had before drifting off to sleep.

…..

Levy's stomach grumbled awakening her from her deep slumber. Keeping her eyes closed she deeply inhaled the fragrant scent of a stew. Levy opened her eyes remembering that she was currently laying on top of Gajeel's couch in his apartment. She tried to shake the sleep cobwebs from her brain as she slowly sat up.

Levy smiled as she heard Gajeel's deep voice humming some kind of tune in the kitchen. She internally giggled at how domesticated he was being right now.

She took a moment to really soak in her surroundings. When she had first arrived here she was so tired she could barely think, let alone really pay attention to anything. Now that her brain was clear she could appreciate the décor of his apartment. She found a lot of pieces in his apartment that one would expect to see in a scrapyard. Steel sculptures, no doubt Juvia's idea, and other random assortments of Iron shaped in the form of furniture. The apartment was clearly lived in and looked comfortable. Levy's eyes glued to a corner of the living area.

 _Is that…_ Levy couldn't help the grin that spread across her face as she walked over and traced her fingers against the fabric of his musician suit. _Aww he even has a little suit for Lily!_ Levy couldn't help but grab the small white suit before placing it lovingly on the stand where Gajeel had it. Gajeel had his white suit placed carefully over a mannequin next to a wide assortment of musical instruments. His guitar was placed inside of his case right next to the mannequin. _Somehow I knew he would almost create an alter for his musical items. Kind of how I make sure my books are always well maintained._ Levy thought happily.

"Like what you see Shrimp." Levy jumped at the sound of Gajeel's voice behind her.

"Woah!" Gajeel laughed as he held her before she tripped over something on the floor. _There's that cute little pout I like so much_. Before he was even aware of it Gajeel placed the tip of his fingers against her lips.

Levy's eyes widened at the contact that was currently happening. Before she was even aware of she lightly licked her lips and in doing so moistened the tip of Gajeels finger.

Gajeel inhaled deeply, shock and arousal turning his brain into mush as he pushed Levy away from him. Not expecting him to react that way she tripped but thankfully was close enough to the wall to be able to grab it for support to keep from falling.

"Levy, I'm sorry I didn't mean…" Gajeel turned away from her not knowing what to say. It was getting harder and harder to deny what he felt for her and he didn't think he could continue to control himself if she kept looking at him that way. _Not that she knows she is_ _even_ _doing it_.

Levy could sense the inner turmoil that he was feeling and grew tired. She was tired of waiting, tired of being worried that maybe he didn't feel the same way. She didn't want to wonder what if anymore. She knew they were guild members and this could make things awkward but if she was wrong… _well then I will just have to deal with it._

Levy reached up and grabbed Gajeel's shoulder, "Gajeel please don't turn away from me. I am not upset with you." She watched as he slowly turned to face her. "There is something I had been wanting to say to you for some time now. I mean I have probably felt it since the day you protected me from Laxus but I was not really sure until we first became partners on Tenrou Island."

Gajeel started to feel panicked, he knew what she was going to say. After all, he wasn't an idiot. He knew that she probably had feelings for him but it was one thing to think that she did and another thing entirely for her to admit it to him. She deserved so much better.

"Levy I-"

"No Gajeel!" Levy stated firmly as she placed a finger on his lips to keep him from continuing. "Please. I need to say this. I am not sure what will happen with us and quite frankly I know there is still so much going on with the war and everything that maybe I shouldn't even bring this up, but ever since I almost lost you when we were fighting the Tartaros guild it has not been the same."

Levy steeled her spine, took a deep breath and said the words that had been burning a hole in her system since the day he stood up for her and told her that he would make her big. "I love you Gajeel."

Gajeel was floored. _Love._ Levy loved him? She loved the very man who had hurt so many people. Who had hurt her precious friends? Who had hurt her? He didn't deserve this. He tried so hard to make amends and to be the man that deserved to be by her side but hearing her say the words out loud brought out every insecurity that he thought he had conquered. Gajeel cornered Levy against the wall and pounded his right fist against it in fury.

"No Levy. You can't love me." Gajeel instantly saw the hurt that she couldn't keep hidden in her eyes at his words. Levy immediately looked down and tried to push him away from her. Gajeel grabbed her arms and pinned them over her head so she could not move. "Look at me Levy."

Levy looked at him as the tears that she could no longer continue to hold back started trickling down her cheeks. He released one of his hands as he brushed away a tear. "It's not that I don't want you to love me Shrimp." He smiled at the name that he always called her. "I want that more than anything. But the truth is Levy. I don't deserve it." Levy sniffed _what is he talking about_ _?_

"You deserve someone who can give you everything you deserve. Someone who does not have a past like mine. Someone who was good from the beginning and not the idiot that I was. Someone who doesn't have it in them to hurt your friends. Levy you don't deserve someone who hurt you the way I did." Gajeel choked out the last sentence. He didn't even care that his voice was cracking or if Levy saw how much pain he was in. He wanted the right to love this woman and the fact that he had to say this was killing him.

Levy thought about what Gajeel said for about maybe a second before wrapping her arms around his chest. "Gajeel that's not what I see when I look at you. I know your past from conversations I have had with Juvia. I know that while you showed this I-don't-care personality deep down you wanted somewhere to belong. You only have to look at the way you are with everyone at the guild or the way you are with Lily."

Levy hugged him as tightly as she could. "I know we didn't start off on the best of terms and you know very well that I was scared in the beginning but knowing you, and I mean really getting to know you has changed me into a better person. If it wasn't for you I feel that I would still be relying on others and I would not be aware of my own strength. Gajeel you gave me the courage to hold my head high and be proud of who I am. I love you for the man you are, every part of you."

Gajeel could see that Levy was being serious. Once she really got her nose in something there was nothing short of a miracle that would stop her. It was one of the things he loved about her. He knew there was no point in trying to stop what was happening and if he was being honest with himself he really did not want to.

Gajeel lifted Levy's chin, "I don't know what I did but I can honestly say I am so lucky that old man found me and brought me to you guys. You're mine Levy and there's nothing that's gonna change that."

Levy's breath hitched as Gajeel brought his face closer to hers. She felt as if time stopped waiting for Gajeel to give her, her very first kiss. Gajeel lightly brushed his lips against hers, savoring the sensation of how soft hers were. Levy let out a gasp of air which was enough of an invitation for him to explore her mouth. He lightly licked at the corner of her mouth, kissed her cheek, kissed her neck any space of Levy that he could get to without actually giving her the searing kiss he felt her body craved.

"Gajeel…" Levy whispered breathlessly, wanting him to stop teasing her.

Something inside him snapped at the sound of his name in that husky tone of her voice. Gajeel picked Levy up by the waist and she quickly wrapped her legs around him as he continued to hold her hostage against the wall.

"You're mine." He said roughly as he finally devoured her lips. Gajeel nipped, bit, and sucked on her lips until Levy couldn't stand it anymore. At the sound of her quick little moans, he slipped his tongue inside of her mouth to deepen the kiss and increased the fire he felt inside of his belly. He felt an almost animalistic desire take over his body.

 _God dammit she drives me crazy_ he thought as he stopped to take a breath. He didn't want to rush Levy or take things too far and he felt that if he did not stop now then it would all be over. He would never hurt her again. Levy not realizing that Gajeel was trying to reign himself in kept nipping and placing small kisses on his neck.

"Levy…" Gajeel said after clearing himself from the haze of desire. "We should stop, I don't want to rush you-"

"Oh!" Levy said realizing what she was doing. She still kept her legs wrapped around Gajeel's waist. Levy's face turned a deep red, she was not embarrassed by what had happened only that she had been so quick to want more. At that moment her stomach decided to make it's presence known and a loud grumble occurred.

Gajeel kissed her on the cheek and burst out laughing, he lowered her back onto the ground but did not release her. "It sounds like it's time to eat Shrimp, Gihi." He kept laughing even after Levy punched him in the arm and walked steadily in front of him into the kitchen.

*******End of Flashback*******

Lucy couldn't help the smile that was plastered on her face, even though her friend was several different shades of red she could see how happy Levy was. Lucy was one of the first people to know how much Levy cared for Gajeel and she was beyond happy to see that Levy had finally taken the leap of faith to get her feelings heard.

Lucy hugged Levy tightly, "I am so happy for you guys Levy!" She said as her friend squeezed her back. Lucy was so happy that she was home, and the drink was certainly making everything very warm and comfy. She giggled out loud.

"Wait." Lucy said looking at Mirajane, "How did you guys know all of this when this happened at Gajeel's apartment?"

"Gajeel blurted it out when they came back to the guild," Cana said.

"Yup!" Mirajane said remembering the day with ease. "It seems he had a conversation with Lily about what had happened and Lily had made it very clear that he should not keep something like that a secret if only to claim Levy." She laughed remembering the look on Levy's face when Gajeel had yelled to everyone that they were in a relationship.

"Juvia remembers that day also. She was so proud of Gajeel-kun for making his feelings known. Juvia had tried to get him to speak of them a while ago but he is stubborn." She sighed remembering how many times she tried to get him to tell Levy. But he was just not as open as she was about her feelings.

"I am so glad he has you as a friend Juvia. I realize how much it's meant to him to have someone from his past accept him also." Levy beamed at Juvia loving the water mage all the more for it.

Lucy was about to ask Levy another question when suddenly the lights went out in the guild hall. Everyone stopped talking as they looked over to the stage waiting to see what was going to happen.

"Oh no," Levy said putting her head down mentally preparing herself for the teasing that was going to occur.

Lucy turned around as she felt Natsu's familiar presence walking up to her. "What's going on Natsu?"

Before he could answer Gray mentioned, "Looks like the Iron idiot over there got a little too drink happy and decided to perform for Levy."

"Gray-sama your clothes!"

"Lyon your clothes!"

Meredy and Juvia both said at the same time eyeing each man with appreciation in their gazes since they really did not mind that their shirts had come off.

"I can't wait to see him make a fool out of himself!" Natsu said as Happy leaped off of his shoulder to land on Lucy.

"Aye, Sir!"

Lucy giggled hugging Happy, "Oh poor Levy! This is going to be perfect!" Natsu smiled seeing how happy Lucy was at the moment. He couldn't help but want to be near her when she was like this. It helped him to forget the pain and anguish that had recently been in her eyes. _I just need to figure out a way to tell her she is going to be staying with me for a while._ He thought nervously not really understanding why he should be nervous all of a sudden. Lucy was his partner after all. But it was something the guys had said earlier that he kept thinking about.

Natsu's thoughts were interrupted but the sound of curtains opening and stage lights beaming onto the guild members.

* * *

 _ **A/N 1 : What did you guys think!? I know this is primarily a Nalu fic and do not worry guys I will have plenty of fluff and possibly more steamy moments with my OTP but Gajeevy is my second favorite pairing and I wanted to give them a decent amount of story! I seriously hope you enjoyed it ;)**_

 _ **A/N 2: Im so happy there are over 3,780 views, 41 followers, 22 favorites and 6 reviews! Seriously after the couple of weeks I've had I can only hope that you guys are enjoying the story as much as I am enjoying writing it! Any music suggestions you guys have that I can listen to? Music really helps motivate me while I'm writing. I will actually post what I was listening to next chapter ;)**_

 _ **Until next time guys!**_

 _ ***Arigatou Gozaimasu* ^.^**_


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